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About the Exhibition
From late September to early November, we proudly host an original exhibition and experiment in perception from local artist Alastair Dacey. Inspired by Walt Kuhn’s response to European Modernism in the early nineteenth century, Alastair spent two years exploring Kuhn’s unique vision and style, seeking to interpret select portraits and use them as guides and catalysts to create wholly new works of art.
Recreating the look and feel of each piece posed questions of design, color, and form as well as the overarching question of exactness and how literal to be in the details—right down to the feathered caps and embroidery. The driving forces behind this project? The concept of masks, identity, and mystery, as well as a search for truths both hidden and revealed by the costumes and face paint of Kuhn’s subjects.
About Alastair Dacey

As a painter, I have been impressed with Kuhn’s pared down designs and direct interpretation of forms and detail. I am sympathetic when he describes one of his paintings as, “A lump of weighted form… the universal substance of art…Cezanne chopped it up to see how it was made; his followers fool with the pieces. Here it is whole again." I am fascinated by how Kuhn saw the face paint, costumes and eyes of his solitary, often aloof subjects. In many of his best portraits you don’t just see, you encounter someone.
To learn more, visit Alastair's website: https://alastairdacey.com/
About Walt Kuhn

About Masks

Image source: metmuseum.org
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