21 WADE AVE #2 | TORONTO
kim dorland | a small digital Print show | 14 sept - 4 nov 2023
Kim Dorland’s A small digital print show is exactly that.
Although the artist is widely known for his impasto oil paintings, Dorland has been working digitally for more than a decade, using technology as an extension of his painting practice. Unabashedly, the artist values painting and digital painting equally. The temptation of inflating oil painting (and other traditional mediums) over digital methods is easily shrugged aside — the tablet, stylus, brush, and palette knife are all tools in the toolbox. Like many contemporary artists who aren’t overly interested in propping up perceived hierarchies of artist mediums, Dorland highlights the reproducibility of printed works by taking a maximalist approach to the exhibit’s installation. Works in the small show also avoid preciousness. Embracing the repeatable nature of digital prints, Dorland leans into experimentation, explicitly playing with how a change in color and/or lighting can produce an entirely different finished work. Moreover, many works in the show incorporate painted elements on top of the digital print — further breaking down the outmoded boundaries between paint and print, the analog and the digital.
Thematically A small digital print show resumes Dorland’s longstanding interest in the overlap of identity and place. His subject matter feels oddly still yet seems to emit a low-frequency buzz. A type of imperceptible energy. The deep-hum of something quietly percolating. These dualities point directly to the futility many feel living through our current climate crisis. There is so much to do and so little being done.
Similarly, Dorland’s work seems to link catastrophe with stillness and inaction and alludes to the anxiety (and ineffectuality) many artists feel about addressing environmental collapse in their work. This prompts the question: How can artists practically and effectively aid in combating climate decline? In this vein, Dorland acknowledges that he recently abandoned working in NFTs, citing the environmental costs of “mining” as the principal concern. Yet even well-intentioned lifestyle changes in the pursuit of reducing our carbon footprints are generally ineffective to the larger problem. And with the weight of so many concurrent catastrophes, Dorland’s work staunchly resists optimism. Instead, the artist offers a realistic response to the catastrophic time we live in. The viewer is asked to sit in the dread, ponder the missed signs, and, if possible, relish in these quiet moments of realization. There may not be hope here, but there is acceptance. Works in this exhibition tap into this particular brand of melancholy, the reality of living with grief and fear, and the intrinsic desire to persevere and revel in the beautiful moments that remain.
- Jenna Faye Powell
Kim Dorland pushes the boundaries of representation through an exploration of memory, material, nostalgia, identity and place. Drawing heavily from the history and language of painting, the loose yet identifiable scenes are interjected with areas of heavy abstract impasto. His refusal to remain faithful to one medium or approach plays into the symbiotic nature of his work. He has exhibited globally, including shows in Milan, London, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. His work is featured in the Contemporary Art Foundation (Japan), The Sander Collection (Berlin); Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal; Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal; Glenbow Museum (Calgary); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Art Gallery of Alberta, the Audain Art Museum and numerous important private collections.
Jenna Faye Powell is a Canadian artist, writer, and arts administrator based in Toronto, Ontario. With deep interest in intersections between art, environmentalism, and ideas that enact social change, she self-identifies as an optimist. She has attained a MFA degree from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (2012), as well as a BFA degree from the University of Western Ontario (2009). Powell has exhibited nationally and internationally in various solo and group shows and currently works as the Operations Manager for Partners in Art, and Project Manager of Annandale Artist Residency.