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Dalí-esque Paintings Explore Man's Tumultuous Relationship with Nature

The paintings in Dave Kinsey’s ‘Momentary Bliss’ address what the artist believes is the end of our evolution.
Bitter Sweet Symphony. Images courtesy the artist and the New Image Art Gallery

After relocating to Los Angeles from an area in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, visual artist Dave Kinsey is presenting a new exhibition of works that explore the tumultuous relationship between humans and the natural world. The sculpturesque paintings in Momentary Bliss take the aesthetic cues of Dalí or Max Ernst paintings and push them further into abstraction. Through thick, color-laden brush strokes and an ardent attention to form, Kinsey is able to create completely abstract objects that communicate things like texture, tonality, and emotion. "These works are a visual dance between reality and what’s brought to fruition within the imagined; what I see and what I don’t see, what I choose to notice or disregard,” he tells The Creators Project. “A world in chaos surrealized within the backdrop of the most perfect serene harmony that seems to undermine all rational understanding and purpose.”

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Future Primitive

Kinsey pulls inspiration and ideas from the natural environments he frequents which in turn edify the model and makeup of his paintings. Many of his works consist of a vibrant background that frames an arrangement of shapes that resemble charcoaled wood after its been burnt. These abstruse objects at the forefront of his paintings become metaphors for a society that Kinsey believes has reached an evolutionary standstill, “perpetually stunted by its own free will and potential demise.” The artist suggests that this brazen juxtaposition of color could imply that we are living in the “most convenient denial” of our destructive influence on the planet. Check out some more of our favorites from the show:

Hollow Heaven

Infinite Identities

Soft Black

Something of the Soul

Momentary Bliss is on at the New Image Art Gallery through February 11th. Learn more about the exhibition, here. And check out more work by Dave Kinsey on his website.

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