Dot Dot Dot
8.-28.6.14
Reed Projects / Skur 2, Stavanger
Street art stencils into the gallery
What used to be surprises in the streets signed the artist Dot Dot Dot, have now entered the gallery space. This is not the first street artist to enter the white cube, and will surely not be the last. There is a risk involved in that transition. Not necessarily for the artist, who then hopefully is secured a more stable income from sales. But the art may suffer. If the works exhibited are just copies of what is in the streets, they only trigger the recognition feeling for those who saw it in the streets. But if the artist use the opportunity the change of scene offers to develop his style, this may have a major impact of his works, and may also influence later works in the streets.
So how has Dot Dot Dot handled this transition into the gallery space? Most of the stencils are already known from the streets. The new part are mostly the backgrounds. As a canvas has really no structure or history, this has to be created by the artist. Some backgrounds are quite neutral, while others are more filled with energy. Most interesting are actually the backgrounds created by other artists: Several of the prints have had guest appearances by other artists, adding a totally different context and impact of the stencil part. And the most apparent is the "guest appearance" by Edvard Munch in the Scream and Theft series.
My impression is that Dot Dot Dot mostly prefer being in the streets, working while we are sleeping (hence the title "While you slept..."). The impact of the works are mostly the instant one, the surprise factor when you discover the work and then the joy of the impact of the motive.
Still I sense a playfulness and the beginning of a creative process in the canvas works, and I am curious on where this will lead, especially when it comes to the public works. I consider the burnfire and the theft/scream topics the most promising ones, and wonder if I will see more unmasked protagonists in the future.
Protester
Dunkelziffer
Tectyl / Tectyl190 / Carosol
Theft AP / Scream AP
