Description

Dashiell Manley. initial elegy (2015). 18" x 15", archival pigment print. Signed edition of 50. $250. Simply existing in The Information Age demands intense periods of inundated consumption, cycled through with brief moments of self-imposed mental retreats in the name of sustainable sanity. Dashiell Manley's work is inextricable from contemporary society, as it serves as a reflection of repetetive consumption and the omnipresent media landscape. Thus, it is no surprise the evolution of Manley's work mimics the dichotomous sequence of saturation and solace. Elegy is his newest collection of paintings and includes initial elegy (2015), on which his exclusive Exhibition A print edition is based. The series serves as a respite from the overwhelming nature of his two previous critically acclaimed bodies of work, which including his New York Times and Various sources paintings; both of which dealt with the "content of the world," according to Manley. Elegy manifests a meditative quality via Manley's controlled and composed problem-solving, working in sharp impastoed slashes that communicate a sense of melancholic zen.