artist statement - Dik Liu
My work examines current perspectives toward American vernacular diet.
Namely, I paint junk food. I light junk food with a dramatic, Baroque lighting effect, thereby bestowing upon Twinkies and Snoballs the occasions for serious, formal, visual analysis. I then capture these occasions with a sensuous brushwork that glances back to that of Velasquez, Frans Hals, and John Singer Sargent. I pump up the colors' intensity, exemplifying junk food's contemporary packaging which is at once garish yet alluring. These paintings are my love songs to junk food, sung in forte. They are Chardins on steroids.
It is the coronation of the commonplace, serving junk food with a highfalutin art style to exalt this pedestrian food genre to the sublime. In doing so, I hope to lift junk food from its plebeian shade, and entice the viewers to appraise Twinkies anew.
SHOWS
06 Solo Show, Allen Sheppard Gallery, New York, NY
04 Solo Show, Allen Sheppard Gallery, New York, NY
03 Parallels of Perception, The Matthew Travis Gallery, Houston, TX
02 George Nick selects Paintings, Concord Art Association, Concord, MA
01 Solo Show, Allen Sheppard Gallery, New York, NY
00 Three Person Show, Galerie GEE'71, The Netherlands
00 Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
99 Faculty Show, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
98 Group Show, First Street Gallery, New York, NY. Juried by Ed Thorp
97 Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, NY
96 "Faculty Small Works Show,” Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
95 Curator, "From the Dragon's Cloud," Tweed Gallery,
Mayor's Office of the City of New York
95 "In Liu of Mondrian," Art Moving, Brooklyn, NY
93 "Flesh and Blood: David Ambrose and Dik Liu," Pennsylvania School
of Art and Design, Lancaster, PA
93 "The Naming of the Colors," White Columns Gallery, New York, NY
93 "Mayor Medical: Invasive Procedures of Contemporary Art,"
City Without Walls, Newark, NJ
91 Three Person show, Berland Hall Gallery, New York, NY
89 "China: June 4 ... 1989," BlumHelman Warehouse, New York, NY
87 "M.F.A. Thesis Show," Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
TEACHING
2001 – now Fashion Institute of Technology
Adjunct Instructor, Fine Art Department
97 - now Long Island University
Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Art
88 - now Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
Instructor of Continuing Education
Instructor of Associates in Applied Science Degree Program
(95) Instructor of BFA Program, Interior Design Department
96 Hofstra University
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Fine Arts/Art History Department
93 - 2004 School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
Instructor of Asian Students Program
88 - 95 The School of Cooper Union, New York, NY
Instructor of Extended Studies
93 Pennsylvania School of Art and Design, Lancaster, PA
Visiting Painting Critic
87 Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
Teaching Assistant, Painting Techniques Seminar
85 Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
Visiting Painting Critic
AWARDS
85 - 87 Yale University School of Art Tuition Scholarship
86 J.R. Dilworth Grant to Yale University
81 M.I.T. Scholarship to Massachusetts College of Art
81 Boston Globe Scholastic Arts Award
EDUCATION
85 - 87 Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT
Master of Fine Arts in Painting, 1987
81 - 85 Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, 1985
80 - 81 MBTA / Educational Training Program, Boston, MA
Certificate in Architecture and Environmental Design