Alexandra Kleiman
Initially known by his graffiti tag “Dephect,” Ian Tweedy continues to intervene in public space through murals and in social consciousness through the appropriation of cultural symbols. In his sculptural constructs and installations, the artist grafts images ranging from soldiers at war to old cars onto found objects large and small, creating parcels of times past.
Tweedy gathers photographic material from history books and popular magazines, pulling from his collection for new paintings and murals. By bringing these temporal cross-sections together within and across works, Tweedy assembles his own uniquely decontextualized history. His 2006 video A History Out of Context provides a glimpse into his method and an apt metaphor for his finished work; the artist is shown ripping pages out of old books which he later uses as supports for drawings and paintings.
Tweedy currently has a solo show up at Untitled Gallery in New York through February 26.
Ian Tweedy, Arrangements of Forgotten Stories, 2010. Courtesy Monitor Gallery.
Ian Tweedy, Out on a Limb, 2010. Courtesy Monitor Gallery.
Ian Tweedy, Z23, 2009. Courtesy Monitor Gallery.
Ian Tweedy, His Hero is Gone, 2009. Courtesy Monitor Gallery.
Ian Tweedy, Z12, 2009. Courtesy Monitor Gallery.
