MICHAEL DEE

SOME CANDY TALKING AND
THE SOUND OF SPEED


JANUARY 18 – FEBRUARY 28, 2014

OPENING RECEPTION:
SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 2014, 6 – 8 PM

GARBOUSHIAN GALLERY is pleased to present Some Candy Talking and the Sound of Speed, an exhibition featuring a wide variety of new work by L.A. artist Michael Dee in his inaugural exhibition with the gallery.

Dee’s recent bodies of work shift and move seemingly independent from one another, but hover around the concepts of destruction, mortality and the inverse relationship of chaos and order. With inspiration from the melody-conscious yet feedback- and fuzz-laden Scottish group Jesus and Mary Chain, the exhibition explores the dichotomy of noise pop, ballistic research, the forces of transonic phenomena and the detachment of psychological numbness, Dee has created a large body of unique and imaginative 2- and 3-D works especially for his exhibit at Garboushian Gallery.

In Some Candy Talking and the Sound of Speed, Dee will be exhibiting a new series of bold, saccharine sweet plastic sculptures, candy-coating the outer rim of the exhibition space.

MICHAEL DEE


MICHAEL DEE
       
       
   


These glossy and curious sculptures will entice, while Dee’s drawings and photographs explore the darker side of human creation and destruction through intensive studies of ballistic tests, supersonic jets, medicinal St. John's Wort flowers and glass skulls.

Dee’s meticulous art practice borders on obsessive-compulsive while he happily spends days, months and even years creating his insightful work. His fascination with technology and the human attraction to destruction has inspired his new series to explore the weaponry of our contemporary society, including jets, bullets, alcohol, drugs and even mental illness.

His glossy plastic creations have been haunting his practice for years, and as they push and pull at consumerism and sensuality in form, the massive abstract objects also gently touch on his fascination with powerlessness and organized chaos. “The clear plastic [material] was necessary to prove to the viewer that sculpture was just the surface and nothing else, maybe a triumph of slacker minimalism or maybe a cynical take on superficiality…”

His drawings and photographs are more intense examinations of the unspoken relationship that manmade objects and natural objects have in common, and the destruction that we are drawn to in all of them. “The drawings are the psychologically numb space that some may never escape from.”

Dee's background in aggressive music, aerospace technology, and pop/surrealism constantly inform his work. The work contained in the gallery will reference intense heat, extreme speed, machismo paths and a longing for calm. The bullet drawings are documentation of a phallic object transforming into a blossom-like orifice upon collision. St. John's Wort flower drawings promise a respite from depression, yet they are toxic. The jets are breaking the sound barrier, but they also may be producing vibroacoustic disease in their pilots. The melted skull drawing references burnout and the insensibility associated with coming down from undue stress.

An active artist based in Los Angeles but hailing from the East Coast, Dee is inspired by a plethora of concepts, including the science of music, the intuitive responses to form and color, the complexity of the human psyche, identity, interaction and symbolism. Some Candy Talking and the Sound of Speed not only takes an intimate look at Dee’s subconscious but also explores relevant issues and concepts that plague our contemporary community.

An Opening Reception for Michael Dee's Some Candy Talking and the Sound of Speed exhibition will take place at Garboushian Gallery on Saturday, January 18, 2014 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm. The exhibition will remain on view until February 28, 2014.

ABOUT MICHAEL DEE:
Dee has exhibited in Japan, England, France, Los Angeles and New York, including Gagosian Gallery. His work has been written about in The New York Times, The LA Times, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Artillery Magazine, Art Papers, Artnet, The Village Voice, Zing Magazine, Art Review, Art Week, and Dialogue.