Shai Dahan

Opening reception on September 22
12-16 in the presence of the artist.
The exhibition runs until October 13
A Gallery
Sofierogatan 3
412 51 Göteborg
info@agallery.se
www.agallery.se

A Gallery is pleased to welcome Shai Dahan to the Gallery with a new body of work that represents his distinctive aesthetic and continually evolving style. Please join us for a reception with the artist on Saturday, September 22nd, 2012.

Shai demonstrates aesthetic elements that encompass both contemporary and traditional techniques of urban art much like the way he performs his art outdoors. Each of Shai’s works is an explosion of layered graffiti text or heavy layers of painted drips or gestural brushstrokes. Working with acrylics, spray paint, and at times, watercolors, his works have an organized chaos that is both compelling and appealing.

Shai has been inspired by cultural motifs from around the world. From Swedish Dalahorses to Palestinian Beduins, Shai finds a way to create motifs that are a piece of the world he is surrounded by and the world of urban art. Even the extended violence throughout the world, with ever roaring emergence of riots, Shai finds a way to create playful and somewhat humorous body of work in a small collection of watercolor paintings depicting riot police and rioters interacting in playful activities.

In other works, Shai finds beauty in the destruction of luxury items. Creating large scale paintings of collectible automotive, Shai takes away the social standard of what is beautiful and replaces it with a new vision for beauty by creating graffiti tags among these luxurious pieces. This body of work documents Shai development as an artist, and the new ways in which he is approaching his subject. By reworking, combining, and appropriating tags from his own local neighborhood, Shai’s new works are intricately layered with fine art and urban substance and contain an unprecedented sense of beauty in ruins.

About the artist:
Shai lives in Boras, Sweden with his wife and two dogs and exhibits both nationally and internationally. His work has been shown in numerous shows around the United States including New York and Los Angeles, and in solo shows including Stockholm and Boras Konst Museum. His work has been published in several books and magazines. Shai will be speaking at TEDxGothenburg in October and will also be taking part of numerous projects, lectures and workshops throughout the remainder of 2012.

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