Dewey Crumpler: Life Studies is Crumpler's first solo show at The Driskell Center.
The Driskell Center is pleased to announce the exhibition Dewey Crumpler: Life Studies, acclaimed contemporary artist Dewey Crumpler’s first show in Maryland. The opening reception will be held September 6 from 5 to 7 p.m. and is part of the NextNOW Festival. The exhibition will be on view at The Driskell Center gallery from September 10 through December 10.
Dewey Crumpler (b.1949) is a painter and teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work examines consumerism, globalization, and racial capitalism, pointing to the complex histories behind our present-day realities. Crumpler works in series, focusing on certain motifs that recur throughout his decades-long oeuvre. This exhibition homes in on two of these motifs–tulips and shipping containers. Though their connection is unexpected, both objects speak to volatile economic systems created and sustained by racist methods of disenfranchisement.
Dewey Crumpler: Life Studies features works on paper and large-scale mixed-media paintings. Selections from The Crumpler Collection, recently acquired by The Driskell Center archives, illuminate Crumpler’s creative practice as one of careful study and reflection. Assistant Director of Exhibitions & Programs, Dr. Abby Eron notes, “Dewey Crumpler’s work rewards close looking and critical thinking. Forms reveal themselves to be symbolic indicators of larger concepts, and details provide moments of wry humor. Crumpler’s work not only deepens our ability to see and interpret art, enhancing our skills as viewers, but his practice as both artist and researcher–highlighted in this show by his sketchbooks and studies–can help those of us creating art do so with greater meaning and purpose.”
Dewey Crumpler: Life Studies has been guest curated by Dr. Sampada Aranke, Associate Professor of Art History and Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University, in collaboration with The Driskell Center staff. Last year, Aranke presented a lecture at The Driskell Center on her recent book publication, and the Center is excited to welcome her back to campus. Andrew Kreps Gallery has generously loaned many of the works included in the exhibition. Prints from the Chainsaw Tulip series are on loan from the artist. The exhibition will be accompanied by a digital publication with essays by Dr. Aranke and Benjamin L. Jones, as well as full-color images of the works, courtesy of the artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, and The Driskell Center archives.