SEPTEMBER 9- OCTOBER 22
Don Pollack is a Painter and Adjunct Associate Professor of Visual Communication at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His work investigates among other things, the relationship between personal mythologies and representation in painting and how it may simultaneously give reference to a narrative. Working in cross disciplines has influenced his perspective by suggesting that projects begin conceptually by proceeding from the premise that all vision is historic and constructed. Pollack’s projects have referenced maps, documents, photography, painting, and slow travel by walking and bicycling. This work has also led him to investigate the role of museums in the process of forming collective memory. The juxtaposition of paintings, maps, signage, and typography has also been included in installations focusing on the reconciliation and healing of historic trauma in North America,– and beyond.
This work comes from the 3000 mile journey traveled from lake Michigan to the Pacific coast. Moving through the landscape the presence of history saturates the experience of the land. In these works in oil on canvas the past traumas and momentary revelations speak to the conflict between abstraction and representation of the land,– the land we inhabit, inextricably forget that we are a part of, we conquer, and we picture. Through a physical journey, the measures of this show makes a space for knowing the land.
Don studied design at the University of Illinois and painting at the Ohio State University where he received his MFA. He has exhibited nationally and internationally and has shown many solo shows in, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Canada.