Dashiell Manley
“Model _______”
New York, 507 West 24th Street
Manley’s practice is characterized by focused, repetitive, oftentimes labor-intensive techniques with an emphasis on systems of production as means of exploring and understanding cultural and political events. In 2016, Manley started developing his Elegy series, which marked a shift from analytical manifestations of the daily news formerly found in his New York Times paintings to more emotional and psychological expressions on the canvas, allowing himself to open up his gestures and movements as a means of processing collective and personal emotions.
Dashiell Manley letters I. E.W.A.T.I.F.A.B.E.T.W.S.T.U.W.W.W.K.I.B.A.I.W.L.O.M.B.W.W.L.T.T.H.I., 2022 (detail) Gouache, acrylic, graphite, chalk, pastel, newspaper, and oil stick on linen 3 panels, each: 39 x 32 inches 99.1 x 81.3 cm Overall: 39 x 96 inches 99.1 x 243.8 cm
The three triptychs in Model _______ follow a similar narrative arc that maps the artist’s ideation of his Elegy series, acting as a sort of prequel to his earlier works. The first panels are illusionistic paintings of Manley’s handwritten notes which have served as the foundation for many of his Elegy works. Using an imaginative linguistic game that experiments with the accumulation of meaning, Manley begins by writing out the alphabet, then stops at the first word that comes to mind, and picks up the alphabet with the last letter of that word until his mind stumbles upon the next word. In one instance, the automatic exercise unravels into a political rant that Manley calls a “letter to boomers” in which he confronts the generational gap between millennials and boomers:
