Alexis Dahan
A native of Paris (b.1982), Dahan has lived and worked in New York since 2005. Dahan became German painter Hermann Amann’s assistant at age 20 while studying literature and philosophy in Paris and Siena, Italy. In 2007 he opened his studio in Union Square where he organized French artist Laurent Grasso’s first US show entitled Electric Palace. In the last seven years Dahan has been regularly commissioned by Purple Magazine, W Magazine and Elle Italia for editorial projects, while continuing to develop his personal work. In 2012, Dahan was the subject of an acclaimed solo exhibition at New York’s Half Gallery where he exhibited works from his series The Lover’s Body Parts are Separated.
"My work is about reconciling abstraction with narration I am as much interested in form as in content.
It is sensual in that it originates from the sensorial experience of looking up at the city sky, it captures an intimate moment I had with my environment.
When I am taken by a certain shape of sky, I extract it and place it in an unfamiliar and isolatory context, so it can be experienced as pure form.
First, I use photography to extract the form and work …
A native of Paris (b.1982), Dahan has lived and worked in New York since 2005. Dahan became German painter Hermann Amann’s assistant at age 20 while studying literature and philosophy in Paris and Siena, Italy. In 2007 he opened his studio in Union Square where he organized French artist Laurent Grasso’s first US show entitled Electric Palace. In the last seven years Dahan has been regularly commissioned by Purple Magazine, W Magazine and Elle Italia for editorial projects, while continuing to develop his personal work. In 2012, Dahan was the subject of an acclaimed solo exhibition at New York’s Half Gallery where he exhibited works from his series The Lover’s Body Parts are Separated.
"My work is about reconciling abstraction with narration I am as much interested in form as in content.
It is sensual in that it originates from the sensorial experience of looking up at the city sky, it captures an intimate moment I had with my environment.
When I am taken by a certain shape of sky, I extract it and place it in an unfamiliar and isolatory context, so it can be experienced as pure form.
First, I use photography to extract the form and work from the most accurate record of the original visual experience.
Then, I translate the shape into another medium in order to eliminate elements such as buildings and clouds that are secondary to the pure form I want to present.
The materials I use, charcoal, casein paint, piezography, wood, uncoated prints, all have the quality of absorbing light as opposed to reflecting it. (The same way a foamy surface will absorb sound instead of echoing it) Finally, restricting the use of color to black and white allow the shapes and forms I present to express themselves in the purest, clearest way.
Living in a modern metropolis where we are oversaturated with information, I rely on the contemplation of these pure forms to provide me with peace when the world is too loud. I create visual silence." -Alexis Dahan