Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert: Undergrowth

01 May Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert: Undergrowth

May 2 – 26, 2019

Exhibits through Sunday, May 26th

With a commitment to creating and curating surprising forms of art, Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert has forged a varied career often fusing subversion with disconcerting whimsy.

Atta’s recent work features sculptural, often interactive painted works on multiple levels of layered wood, which investigate themes of death, decomposition and rebirth.

Undergrowth, a month-long exhibition at Gallery 30 South, will display over 60 works Atta has created since, showing the evolution of this series, which began at the end of 2017. The body of work was the first Atta created as self-therapy. For the first time, the experienced artist and designer’s work became a comfort. After the deaths of his older brother and grandfather Seifert channeled and referenced themes which over-populated his grandmother’s ceramics and needle-points, albeit with a much darker, personal take.

“After the election I found myself obsessively painting mushrooms, the way my ceramicist grandmother used to when I was a child. I painted 125 of them on cardboard and started planting them in my town. I think it was to spread unexpected glimmers of surprise, to remind people to still pay attention to the little things around them. I then sent them to friends in NYC, Portland, Ohio and elsewhere. These paintings evolved into paintings on wood, which have become just as much sculptures as paintings. In a way, I’m now building paintings, with sometimes dozens of layers of wood, into 2 1/2 D reliefs. Up until this year, I’ve never enjoyed painting. It would frustrate me to no end, but now I’m addicted to figuring out these pictorial puzzles… Much like a mushroom that grows on the decay of dead matter, it’s an artist’s job to deconstruct and build upon old ideas, into new ones.”
– Attaboy, as told to USAARtNews

Attaboy’s work has been seen in books, magazines, galleries, museums, television and many designer stores. His influences include Alexander Calder, Maurice Nobel, Eyvinde Earle, Dr. Seuss, and the futurist Syd Mead.

In 2005 artists Annie Owens and Attaboy co-founded Hi-Fructose magazine, which has become a best selling art magazine with a global reach. In 2009, in order to better define the scope of the magazine, New Contemporary Art was added to the masthead. Since, the term has been adopted by many galleries, museums and artists. Hi-Fructose: The New Contemporary Art Magazine was honored with a ten year retrospective titled Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose”, which premiered at the Virginia MOCA, and travelled to the Akron Museum of Art and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, CA. The publication has spawned a popular series of hardcover books, elaborately designed box sets, curated shows, and a recent Hi-Fructose hardcover distributed by Abrams books focused on New Contemporary Fashion.

Atta and Annie live in Richmond. California with their pug Donut and Ripley the one-eyed wonder dog. Following Undergrowth, Attaboy’s installation Cradle of Life and art works will be featured in an at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art exhibition Surreal Sublime, this June.

Contact gallery director Matt Kennedy for purchase information, press materials, or to be plan a visit outside regular gallery hours (12-6 Th-Sun).

Also produced exclusively for this exhibition is a series of Shroombots, hand-painted, machine-cut, transformable and posable wooden toys. These are available as take-away purchases that can be also be shipped immediately with an online or phone purchase.

 

All images on this page are ©2019 Daniel Seifert. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is forbidden by law.

Gallery 30 South is located at 30 S. Wilson Ave. Pasadena, CA 91106. Hours: Thursday through Sunday, 12-6PM or by appointment. Tel: (323)547-3227 email: info@gallery30south.com