Art Lies, Volume 34, Spring 2002 Page: 65
77 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
FORT WORTH
Document/Image: The Work of Dan Allison
William Campbell Contemporary Art
Reviewed by Tony MerinoThe human mind reads pictures as a mix of
visual data-facts, and the product of fancy-
fiction. These two qualities of images have a
unique relationship because neither can exist
in its pure state. The most random photo still
has some bias, some element in which the
image is defined by what the photographer
feels is important. Therefore it is somewhat
fictional. Every image, even Kandinsky's most
obtuse abstractions, in some way documents
something, even if it is an esoteric philosophy.
Therefore, images are, in some part, documents
of fact. Dan Allison explores this dichotomy of
fact/fiction in his recent exhibition, Searching.
Each of his flowers and faux film noir pieces
play with how much of the image Allison
documents and how much he creates.
The complexity of this dichotomy is imme-
diately visible in his floral pieces: large Orchid
and smaller Rose images. Allison crops the
frame of the images so that only the swollen
petals and sensuous profile are legible. Thus
the images become not so vague references to
tonsils, tongues, lips, labia and clitoris. This
reference of flowers to flesh is a common,
almost hackneyed tradition of American art,
typified in the work of Robert Mapplethorpe
and Georgia O'Keeffe. One of Allison's great-
est strengths as an image-maker is his ability
to make the trite look fresh. In the case of theDan Allison, Someone Else, 2001
Polymer photogravure
13 x 12"
Courtesy of William Campbell Contemporary Art
Orchids his work operates in the middle ground
of document/image that Mapplethorpe and
O'Keeffe define. Mapplethorpe's flowers pre-
tend to be documents, presented in stark black
and white. If there is any visual allusion it is
purely coincidental. O'Keeffe's pictures are
definitely images; she will alter the shape of a
flower to more exactly mimic that of a vagina.
Allison positions his work directly in the mid-
dle using photographic tricks to alter the
image. While maintaining the illusion that the
subject is being recorded, it is clear that
Allison is aware of a visual metaphor. The dif-
ference between Mapplethorpe and O'Keeffe's
work may be due simply to the difference
between a photograph and a painting.
Dan Allison, Face the Music, 2002
Polymer photogravure
11 x 111/2"
Courtesy of William Campbell Contemporary ArtAllison's prints, which are basically
painted photos, are ideal for merg-
ing, or compromising between, the
two artists.
His Rose images deal with
another aspect of how the human
mind distinguishes between docu-
ment and image. Even more than
the distinction between painting and
photography, the human mind, or at
least the western mind, reads linear
pictures as documents and blurred
pictures as imagery. An Audubon
painting is viewed as more real then
a blurred photograph. Allison plays
with this construction in his Rose
pictures, which are both sharply
/ defined and hazy, coming in and
out of focus. All of these images
start as photographs, as recordings
of things that actually existed. No
matter how much Allison alters or
distorts the image they retain some
documentary element.
The documentary quality of the
flower images is in direct contrast to the
artist's film stills images. In these pieces the
artist stacks fiction on fiction: or illusion on
illusion. They pretend to be appropriated
images of film noir stills, a highly stylized and
mannerist form, which advertises its own arti-
fice. Here, the artist illustrates stories from a
fictional novel that he has apparently been
writing. The composition of the images ampli-
fies their fictionality. Tightly cropped portraits
of women and men in broad brimmed hats
appropriate the style and fashion of the
period. As in film noir, the absence of light
becomes a positive element. The images are
overlayed with fragments of illegible text. The
images are links of narrative rather than full
stories The action has just happened or, more
often, is just about to happen. Unlike the
flower prints, Allison indulges in creating pure
images. They celebrate their own artificiality.ARTL!ES Spring 2002 65
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Bryant, John. Art Lies, Volume 34, Spring 2002, periodical, 2002; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth228063/m1/67/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .