Walpurgisnachtmart

Walpurgisnachtmart 
by David Sandlin

chashama Donnell Windows
20 West 53rd Street
New York, NY
(across the street from MoMA)

March 12 — 27, 2011
viewable from the street 24 hours a day

Reception: March 11, 7-9pm

“Despite the undeniable power of man’s antisocial passions…the individual may hope for improvement through his own efforts—through education, participation in politics, activity in behalf of reform, but not through prayer.” [Peter Gay, historian of the Enlightenment] 

The two works here are from a series of four paintings I made between 2001 and 2008. When, “midway down life’s road” I became a father, I started the series, inspired by Thomas Cole’s allegorical paintings The Voyage of Life and drawing in part from my experiences and impressions growing up in Northern Ireland and rural Alabama. 

I am also fascinated by the contradictions inherent in our society—underpinned by Puritanism and ostensibly based on Enlightenment conceptions of freedom, equality, and justice and yet fueled by laissez-faire capitalism, hyperconsumerism, and triumphalism. 

Ooo, My Son, All of This Is Yours depicts the contemporary American family confronted by a heaven/hell shopping mall—repository of both enlightenment and unenlightenment. Strong is the temptation to rely on security, patriotism, and religiosity offering fairytale heavens of sanctioned indulgence and an insular existence exempting critical scrutiny of good and evil. Belle Past, Belfast is about the cultural baggage passed on from one generation to another and the paths people must choose—or not choose. 

Artist’s bio:
David Sandlin was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1956. He currently lives in New York City and teaches at the School of Visual Arts. His paintings, prints, books, and installations have been exhibited extensively in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia Since fall 2010 Sandlin has been a Fellow at the New York Public Library’s Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers, where he is working on Belfaust, a graphic novel. 

artist's website:
www.davidsandlin.com