(Above) Chris Dean, American Love Monster, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, Vision Test, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, Your Crushing Defeat, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, 64 on The Floor, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, Gotta Do What You Can, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, Illiterate Spector of Mark Ryden’s Atari Childhood, lenticular art print, edition of 40. Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, Land of Milk and Honey Baked Ham, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
(Above) Chris Dean, Kill Kwerty, lenticular art print, edition of 40.Click for larger view.
DO YOU REMEMBER LENTICULARS? THE FIRST ONE I REMEMBER SEEING was a Cracker Jack prize. It was usually simple things like a black and white image of a winking eye or a bucking bronco, but it was fun and always something I wanted to save. Over the years, I have seen lenticulars used on the cover of magazines, like special issues of TV Guide, National Geographic and Rolling Stone. Chris Dean, an artist who shows at TAG Art Gallery, is an artist that uses the lenticular printing process for his vibrant, pop culture inspired art. His work fits right in with the stylistic direction of many Los Angeles artists today—indeed Dean graduated from San Jose State University in 1994. His early work involved 3-D work with the need for special red & green glasses, but he has worked years to produce the lenticular process himself at his studio.
Apparently, Dean has had to deal with some criticism of his process, and he addresses that below: “I have been excited to see the reactions of people to the work. It is “like fire,” one friend confessed. While I am happy to take appropriate credit for the reaction it is certainly one of the benefits in working with a medium that is by its nature so fun. That fact tends to polarize people however. Some see only a gimmick, and dismiss anything done with it as pop trash. It is hard to discount their experience, there certainly are plenty of examples of work whose only strength is the medium. The same thing is overwhelmingly true of holography. But that view can unfairly prejudice a viewer. It is really up to the artist, not the medium, to produce something of artistic value. Hopefully as more artists dig deeper into the medium the critics will be unable to make blanket judgments of that kind and there will be a change of attitude.”
Even as flat art they are amazing, the content and juxtaposition are very intriguing. Would like to see them in "action".
ReplyDeleteTrippy, Man!
ReplyDeleteGetting people to look and respond, good, bad or indifferent is all that matters. Dean's work is an amazing synthesis! He gets my vote and you do too for presenting it today.
ReplyDeleteJohn you always amaze me with your research...WOW!
ReplyDeleteChris, please post the animated gifs of these!
ReplyDeleteWow, it's fabulous to see creative explorers like this! I was so pleased to find more work by Chris Dean out in the virtual world while I am stuck here lashed to a day job. He is one of the artists that received a 1% for the Arts commission at Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Science Institute here in Corvallis, Oregon along with forward thinking artist Stephen Knapp, and my father Bill Shumway; all three in individuals are truly ARTISTS. I am gobsmacked to know that not only do brave makers like Dean, Knapp and Shumway exist out there in the world, but that they might be acknowledged and paid and their work would be invited to continue to affect the culture of a community. The fact that these three characters get to "play in the same sandbox together" is just CAKE! - Paige Shumway 2011
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