Sebastian Dacey at Galerie Jahn

Artist: Sebastian Dacey

Venue: Galerie Jahn, Munich, Germany

Date: November 18, 2016 – January 21, 2017

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and Galerie Jahn, Munich

Sebastian Dacey‘s second solo exhibition at Galerie Jahn is built around new, large-format textile assemblages. The painted molton and linen fabrics, at times intact, at times torn or holed, overlap one another in multiple layers.

The starting point for some of these works is the painting of a concrete motif. The work is then turned around to reveal its reverse, becoming transformed in the process into an abstract piece. The heavily applied oil paint saturates the material, drawing forms and patterns in flecks of colour.

In other works, the materiality of the textile is emphasised by a minimalist form of painting that creates a distinctive contrast to the diverse found objects, three dimensional works made from towels, or the hanging hemp ropes that otherwise occupy the spaces of the gallery. Dacey‘s work is characterized by fractures and transitions. The way in which the different materials are installed, and the arrangement of the individual coloured fabrics, produces levels of overlay that create the impression of depth and of space.

The lengths of textile are attached on the upper edge to a narrow wooden pole, so that the material hangs freely down, like a sheet. In order to support this aspect of the object, the works are installed off the wall using long nails.

The exhibition includes a number of canvas works and works on chromolux paper, the serial character of which is stressed through the form of presentation.

Despite diverse motifs, from figurative orientations through to landscapes and scientific descriptions of plants, the binding element is the omnipresent purple-black oil paint.