Richard Dupont | Mireille (1)

Mireille (1), 2017
Woodcut, silkscreen and pochoir
16 x 20 inches
Edition of 15
Printed by Marco Lawrence, Brad Ewing, and Grayson Cox
Published by Planthouse

$3,500

Planthouse is pleased to release two new editions with mid-career New York artist Richard Dupont, which evoke the rich history of bathers in art. A monumental nude figure bends to attend to her ankle, the diagonal trajectory of her pose pushing against the limits of the picture plane. The classic subject matter recalls paintings depicting bathers and women at the toilette by Degas, Seurat, Cassat, and Picasso, and even Renaissance precedents in studies of human proportion. Dupont’s interest in digital imaging techniques from commercial contexts, seen throughout his oeuvre, is here manifest in a constellation of geometric cross-contour lines that describe the bather’s body as in three-dimensional modeling. Pochoir coloring lends the effect of stained glass, implying the fragility and hollowness of the wire-frame form. The silhouetted outline dramatically backlights the figure and foregrounds the relationship between two- and three-dimensions. Effervescent circular ornaments—floating bubbles or flying beach balls—envelope the bather. She is contained in her self-reflecting world, a private moment, excerpted from reality. The processes involved in this publication served Dupont as further exploration of the tensions between human and machine: a laser-cut woodblock was created, then the block was “edited” by Dupont with a hand tool, a layer of silkscreen was applied, and finally Dupont cut the pochoir stencils for select areas of coloring. In every way this print is an investigation of the human form as it is presented, altered, and perceived, in a world that blurs fiction and reality.

Richard Dupont (b. 1968) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. His artistic practice includes installations, sculptures, prints, paintings, and drawings. He received a BA from the Departments of Visual Art and Art and Archeology at Princeton University.  Dupont’s work draws from a variety of themes and references, and has been described as “post-digital” and “post-internet”.  An interest in the implications of biometric technologies underpins much of his work.His prior museum exhibitions include The Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2016), The Cleveland Museum of Art (2015), The Underground Museum , LA (2014), The Museum of Arts and Design (2014), The Queens Museum (2013), The Middlebury College Museum of Art (2011), and The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (2008). He has presented major installations at Lever House (2008) and The Flag Art Foundation (2010), both in New York City. His works are included in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The Hammer Museum, and The New York Public Library Print Collection among many others. .His works are included in the collections of numerous museums including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museum, and The New York Public Library Print Collection among many others.  In 2014, he was awarded the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) Visionary Award.