White Paintings brings together a collection of works by Dan Arps made over the course of the last decade which exemplify his use of paint, and sculpted relief as a primary methodology. Colour is an important part of Arps’ formal vocabulary, yet the reductive quality of working primarily with white is something which he continues to return to.
Dan Arps, Untitled (white painting #3), 2014
wood, aluminium, acrylic paint, 450 x 585mm
Dan Arps, Post Mute, 2011
wood, acrylic paint, epoxy, 325 x 415mm
Dan Arps, Untitled (white painting #6), 2013
acrylic paint, on wood and polystyrene, 640 x 945mm
Dan Arps, Treatment Study, 2010
wood, putty, acrylic paint, collage, acrylic varnishia, 295 x 370mm
Dan Arps, Cloud Computer, 2017
acrylic on watercolour paper mounted on aluminium, 318 x 435mm
Dan Arps, Lattice, 2017
acrylic on watercolour paper mounted on aluminium, 230 x 320mm
Dan Arps, Untitled (white painting #5), 2014
wood, acrylic paint, epoxy putty, 435 x 485mm
Arps’ work consistently asserts an alternative kind of seriousness to that evinced by permanent materials, high production values, big budgets or labour-intensiveness. Against these standard measures of commitment, he presents the formal successes of vigor and casualness, a lack of preciousness, effects that compete with the power of the appeals of the popular work they sometimes overpaint.
– Jon Bywater
