Douglas r dover: 98% air
September 30 - November 4, 2023
Press Release
Ro2 Art is proud to present 98% Air, an exhibition of new work by Dallas-based artist Douglas R Dover. The exhibition will open September 30 and remain on view through November 4, 2023, at Ro2 Art Projects located at 1501 S Ervay St., Dallas, TX, with an opening reception to be held September 30 from 7-10pm.
In 98% Air, Douglas R Dover experiments with reframing molded polystyrene packaging, or Styrofoam, as a contemporary artifact to consumer culture. By taking Styrofoam out of its traditional context as a packing material and recontextualizing it in a gallery setting, Dover imbues the material with a sense of importance, significance, and weight that contrasts with the material’s throwaway nature and physical quality of lightness. Layering soft colors of translucent plastics over Styrofoam packaging, these works take on a formal, abstract quality. There is an ethereal, precision and beauty to Dover’s assembled works that forces a reconsideration of the object, its current function, and, more broadly, our interactions with throwaway, consumable materials. |
artist Statement
I see molded polystyrene packaging as the quintessential relic of modern life. Commonly referred to as Styrofoam, these containers are composed of 98% air. They are geometric, cellular and weightless and are seen as testaments to a culture intent on the accumulation of material wealth.
Overtures to archaeology and infrastructure can be found, but layered and simple. I search for a vocabulary of meaning that looks forward and seeks enlightenment. |