Julie Novakoff
I walked into the Peter Mendenhall Gallery at just the right time. Los Angeles-based painter Daniel Douke was meticulously unwrapping works for his solo exhibition on view through July 9th at the Peter Mendenhall Gallery in Los Angeles.
As Douke stripped away layers of parchment, he revealed what I soon discovered were examples of his “box paintings”: mailboxes, cereal boxes, and shipment cartons. These everyday, seemingly mundane objects are actually meticulously executed paintings and sculpture, a canon Douke has developed since 1977. Hardmaster is a prime example of a box paining, a stack of painted canvases posing as commonplace cardboard shipping boxes, with packing tape, scuffs from delivery, and an address label painted on the canvas.
Daniel Douke, Hardmaster, 2011. Courtesy of Peter Mendenhall Gallery.
Andy Warhol, Brillo Soap Pad Box, 1968. Courtesy of Joseph K. Levene Fine Art.
Douke’s interest in the everyday experience of consumerism has been greatly influenced by 60s Pop Art. At first glance one might compare Douke’s box paintings to Andy Warhol’s famous Brillo Box sculptures; however, beyond the picture plane lies a deeper meaning. “Nothing escapes my vision. I take pleasure in the real world,” Douke says.
Daniel Douke, Onus, 2011. Courtesy of Peter Mendenhall Gallery.
Onus can be grasped on various levels that relate to art history and politics. This colorful stack of rusting mailboxes references the simple forms of Donald Judd’s Minimalism. Douke also pays tribute to Jasper Johns’ famous flag painting with his own interpretation of the American flag painted on the mailbox. The placement of the image of the flag at the bottom of the stack is intentional; Douke says he, “placed the American flag on the bottom to represent the load of responsibility the US has in ensuring the security to other sovereign nations.”
Donald Judd, Untitled, 1967. Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.
In that light, Dream might be a reference to the “American Dream” – American society’s obsession with wealth and the freedom to succeed.
Daniel Douke, Dream, 2011. Courtesy of Peter Mendenhall Gallery.
“When people walk into a gallery they often have a pre-conceived idea about what they will see,” Douke explains. “Just the other day a California gallerist asked me why I paint realism, noting that ‘I seem like a smart guy.’ I do not simply reinvent and recreate reality. You will see, my work messes with these expectations and notions of art.”
