SCOPE NEW YORK 2017
BOOTH 095
March 2nd – March 5th
Los Angeles based artist Dan Quintana creates intimate and dichotomous portraits laced with surrealistic tendencies and undertones of echoing darknesses. Confrontational and deep gazes project outward from each oil painting, breathing out life and a strong sensation of omniscience. A commingling of planes in each painting reveals the multi-layer, complex, inner selves of his sitters. Dualistic elements found in each of these planes or layers serve to reflect all that makes up the human psyche; the coexistence of such dualities and how as a whole, they make up the complete mortal soul. In this new body of work, poisonous flowers accompany each portrait, reverberating the contrariety of the artist’s aesthetics. Similar in nature to Quintana’s quintessential deities, these flowers appear both beautiful and inviting, yet something darker awaits beneath the surface. Through his heavy use of symbols, contrasting colors and varying shades of light, the viewer is beckoned with curiosity and wonderment. How deep one wishes to penetrate is the ultimate reflection of their own variegated existence.
About Dan Quintana
Dan Quintana was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and found his own form of creative expression through self taught trials in oil paint, street art (murals), commercial commissions and custom car culture. Unearthing inspiration from the world around him as well as art history, Quintana’s technical approach echoes that of the Old Master’s yet simultaneously imbues a contemporary vibe of design and modern urbanity. Each painting is laden with emotion and the inner bearings of the depicted sitter. An emphasis on form, composition and palette are defining characteristics of his work as is his prominent usage of motifs such as metamorphoses, decay, death and the ambiguity between defining elements of good and evil. Quite akin to his multi-layer technique, Quintana gives us a glimpse into a multi-dimensional world invisible to the human eye yet paramount to our singular existence.
