HESKIN CONTEMPORARY PRESENTS

Sam Dargan Thank God For Dynamite, Part 2 January 25thth through February 26tht 2011 OPENING RECEPTION, Tuesday, January 25th, 6 – 9 PM.

Heskin Contemporary is pleased to present “thank god for dynamite, part 2.” Opening Jan uary 25th and running through February 26th, 2011. A reception will be held for the artist from 6 -9 pm on Tuesday, January 25th. This exhibition will be in conjunction with Theodore:Art, who will be hosting Sam Dargan’s “Thank God for Dynamite, Part 1”.

During a lecture describing the Russian Governments’ pogrom against Jews in the late 19th Century, Mark Twain said “If such a government cannot be overthrown otherwise than by dynamite, then thank God for dynamite!” Alex Butterworth’s ‘The World That Never Was’

Sam Dargan’s work primarily deals with the disenfranchised. His characters are often isolated, outsiders, dealing with the situations and events they find themselves in with varying levels of success. The backdrops are hostile, lonely, often bleak, usually scarred with political graffiti, creating an environment ill at ease with itself.

Dargan’s work is sparked by a range of material from newspaper reportage, to cinema, bringing in elements of political thought and action. Increasingly in the last year he has looked at historical events as a means of contextualizing his paintings. For example, The Paris Commune of 1871, the suffragette movement, the beginning of Anarchist thought, anything with an emphasis on defiance or insurrection, the heroic Utopian ideals that with the benefit of hindsight somewhere along the line lost their way.

Cinema is also an important resource, particularly Film Noir, French New Wave and more specifically, the work of Carol Reed (The Third Man, The Man Between) and Jean Pierre Melville (Le Cercle Rouge, Un Flic). Film stills often form the basis of the images he creates. Alongside this, the use of lyrics and titles culled from the songs of Bongwater, The Fall and Half Man Half Biscuit are an important resource.

Sam Dargan graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2002; he was nominated for the 2009 John Moores Painting Prize and in 2006 won The 16th Mostyn Prize. His work has been exhibited regularly throughout the UK and beyond and is in important international collections. This is Dargan’s first exhibition at Heskin Contemporary.

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