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DAL MACON
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Dal Macon is a Realist painter who works mostly by observation on site. His paintings consist of rich, detailed landscapes and interior views. Each canvas progresses over a number of years as he paints only when the light and conditions are just right. He draws our attention to the simple beauty of light striking a wall or lawn, shadows playing against curtains, a tablecloth, or dappling trees. The results are mesmerizing as the paintings are infused with time and thought, as well as mastery. He lives with his wife in rural Whitley County, Kentucky, where they raised two children in a house he built in a beautiful setting. Macon has been employed teaching art in area colleges and as an artist in community programs. Macon was born in Des Moines, Iowa, and raised in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. He earned a BA degree in philosophy from Vanderbilt University in 1971. From 1975 to 1978 Macon attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to study with Realist painter William Nichols. He earned an MFA from Vermont College in 1993. Macon has been awarded prizes in several juried exhibition, such as the Water Tower Annual sponsored by the Louisville Visual Art Association and the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Macon was featured with fourteen other Kentucky artists in the KET (Kentucky Educational Television) series, Looking At Painting. His work is included in several private and corporate collections. Artist's Statement As I begin a work, my personal response to the actual scene is primary. Do I like looking at it? Do I identify with the image? Do I see possibilities for a painting in it, for transforming it into pictorial language? As poet/critic James Schuyler once wrote, "The reality of a painting does not lie in the presence or absence of subject, but in conviction." Finding the subject compelling, being visually engaged with it as an image, and wrestling with its portrayal are ways of describing my sense of conviction. Viewing the subject extensively, sometimes from year to year, is crucial in providing me with visual ideas for handling the specific decisions. Seeing takes time. My primary aim has not been one of accurately recording an exact replica. Rather, my goals have been to capture the visual sensation that I experience and to present a strong visual image in the final work. Separation from the scene or obsession with accuracy often loses the real sensation; the successfully painted picture, however, is independent of likeness. Very simply, different kinds of visual emphasis come together. Seeing the subject and then painting the image are the basis for my art. My specific resources for these works come from aspects of the visual world that surround me -- the rural/wooded setting is one and the home is another. In addition, a number of art styles and time periods influence my orientation. From the Dutch Baroque, the technique in handling oils and the common subject have always fascinated me. The allegiance to optical color of Impressionism and the flat picture plane of the 20th Century have both won my respect for their visual strength. Last, but not least, has been the many forms of recent Contemporary Realism in its ongoing pursuit of applying 'Modern Abstract Art' principles to realistic subjects. I believe my art to be a mixture of the above styles -- choosing what is most personal for my seeing and my art. Dal Macon, 2002 |
