ROY DOWELL

Roy Dowell’s solo exhibition Evidence to the Contrary, showcases twenty-five new single format works composed of vinyl emulsion on linen over panels. The works are meditations on Dowell’s personal cabinet of curiosities, his memory of objects, and living between Mexico City and Los Angeles. Dowell is drawn to this specific medium because it allows each layer of the painting to remain fully visible. By eliminating the concealment typical of the creative process, the work achieves a transcendence of time. While each work shares the same dimensions at twenty-four by eighteen inches, the only other unifying feature that links them is Dowell’s artistic intent. He approaches the creation of each work as an individual, self determining endeavor; resulting in a unique, precious object.

Dowell shares in the essay, "An Inventory of Desire" by Geun-jun Chungwoo-Michael Lim, that he prefers to allow the viewer to have an active part in “decoding, deciphering and dismantling the work.” He doesn’t think of this as “coyness, but a refusal to steer.” Dowell continues to note how his work has become more self-referential; “I am now more frequently quoting myself, revisiting ideas and themes from previous works. I have realized that ideas and motifs are not “used up” if I have only used them once, and that frequently what I see as a similarity between works is often not seen this way by others at all. I think that this approach to working has helped create a sense of generosity in my work.” Dowell would like the viewer to locate themselves in his paintings.

This exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated printed catalogue with an essay by writer Geun-jun Chungwoo-Michael Lim.

Roy Dowell (b. 1951 in Bronxville, NY) received his Master of Fine Arts and his Bachelor of Arts from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA and studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA.

Dowell has been the subject of notable solo exhibitions at 1969 Gallery, New York, NY; Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA; Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, NY; Fawbush Gallery, New York, NY; James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA; Lennon, Weinberg, Inc., New York, NY; Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA; The Landing, Los Angeles, CA; and Tif Sigfrids Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

His work has been included in institutional group exhibitions at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO; Centro Cultural del México Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Musée d’art moderne et d’art contemporain, Nice, France; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, and elsewhere.

Dowell’s work may be found in the collections of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, CA; Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico; Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts, Los Angeles, CA; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego, CA; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, among others.

He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and Mexico City, Mexico.

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Evidence to the Contrary

Selected Works

Press Release