Portland based artist Dan Attoe’s exhibition at Berlin’s Peres Projects is an ode to the majestic stillness of winter. In these motionless scenes the artist manages to capture the drama of the Northwestern American landscape.
Painted from both real landscapes and the imagination these dramatic scenes contain just one or two slim figures. Situated in the vast openness these small characters worry and reassure themselves in some instances, or in others simply stand in juxtaposition to one another, allowing the viewer to fill in the gaps.
Attoe’s landscapes manage to capture the classic elements of a winter nature scene, while also giving us something new, as if straight out of a deeper subconscious.
His exploration of landscape painting in this show highlights the beauty of nature’s scenery but also its melancholy, showing man’s insignificance amid nature’s powerful vastness.
Dan Attoe “Natural Selections” is on view Peres Projects Berlin until February 24, 2016.