Daniel Unverricht, Sleeping Village; 11 May – 4 June 2022.
Daniel Unverricht’s upcoming exhibition at {Suite} wasn’t intended to be a comment on New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown, but like many artists he subconsciously found the idea seeping into his latest body of work.
His painting practise is well known for its ‘dramatically lit realism’, the derelict buildings and moody nocturnal streetscapes providing an eerie sense of the uninhabited, but in some ways his practise has foreshadowed the reality of our local areas during New Zealand’s lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. As Daniel comments, "maybe my paintings have always had that isolational/locked down aspect, just distilled a bit more now."
Taking inspiration from local buildings in the Wairarapa, where he resides, Daniel has always shone a light on the overlooked, undervalued and the disappearing, often painted at night with dramatic lighting and high contrast of light and shadow.
In this series, a new aspect has entered his work; a daytime setting and a deliberate attempt to add in some cheer after a difficult few years.
His painting Centre III (pictured) is a burnt out, boarded up building, but Unverricht can still see the beauty in in. Elevated to a grand scale (the painting measures 1.5 x 1.2m) with a focus on the plywood boards right in the centre of the work, Centre III envelopes the picture plane, filling the painted surface, but with a hint of brightness from the blue sky beyond.
Daniel received a Master of Fine Arts from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, graduating in 2003, and has exhibited regularly in both solo and group exhibitions since then.
{Suite} Gallery, 189 Ponsonby Road, T: 09 218 4399, www.suite.co.nz
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