MARK DUTCHER
CURTAINS
October 20 – December 1, 2007

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HIGH ENERGY CONSTRUCTS is pleased to present CURTAINS, an exhibition of new paintings by Los Angeles-based artist Mark Dutcher.

It has been said that Mark Dutcher’s paintings are simultaneously “celebratory and somber” - densely layered combines of reoccurring visual tropes from an accomplished vocabulary that generate an inherent emotional atmosphere.

For this exhibition, Dutcher presents four large-scale paintings. Inspired by the Shakespearian idea that “all the world’s a stage,” Dutcher has increased his scale to give the paintings a more theatrical presence. Each painting is straightforwardly doused in black, (except one which is indubitably white-washed) evoking a colorfully littered and subjectively dreamy stage set with the curtains drawn, inviting the viewer into a memory theater of both joy and melancholy.

About the artist:
Mark Dutcher lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. He has recently had solo exhibitions at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA, SolwayJones, Los Angeles, CA and was included in the 2004 California Biennial at the Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA. An upcoming solo exhibition of Dutcher’s artwork, titled Shelf Life, will concurrently be on view at the Huntington Beach Art Center, from October 20 - December 16, 2007. Dutcher is currently represented by SolwayJones, Los Angeles.
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Mark Dutcher, Cut the Lights Out, 2007, oil, acrylic, spray paint, marker on canvas, 82 x 94 inches


Mark Dutcher, Picnic at a Truckstop, 2007, oil, acrylic, fabric on canvas, 74 x 106 inches


Mark Dutcher, The Failed Rescue, 2007, oil, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 92 inches


Mark Dutcher, Curtains, 2007, oil, acrylic on canvas, 82 x 98 inches

Mark Dutcher, Cinema, 2007, oil, acrylic, spray paint on canvas, 82 x 94 inches

Mark Dutcher, A Year in the Theater, 2007, oil, acrylic on canvas, 96 x 120 inches

Mark Dutcher, The Snow Inside the Hourglass, 2007, oil, acrylic, pencil on canvas, 82 x 105 inches