EP 028 - DAN WITZ
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Imagine a "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" type situation where a young punk rock kid from Brooklyn finds himself time traveling back to 17th century Holland and stumbles into the painting studio of one of the classic Dutch Masters. Accepting this odd twist of fate, he dutifully studies the teachings and techniques of his mentor and eventually breaks out on his own, painting images of his earlier life in the future. Pure fiction perhaps, but the result is all real. Dan Witz has been painting just such work in his New York studio for decades.
Masterfully composed scenes of epic mosh pits pieced together from reference photos take by the artist himself at punk-rock shows are painted with the detail and delicacy he cultivated during his studies as a classical painter. To the trained eye, one can spot extreme consideration for lighting and geometry in his works painted with the buttery goodness typical of oil paint. To everyone else, they're just dope paintings of cool shit!
What's possibly most impressive about Dan is his ability to straddle the high-end gallery market and the ever changing street art world without compromising either one and still managing to make all the work relate and stay consistent.
Where most artist have a "thing" they are best known for, Dan seems to create a new "thing" every couple of years. From his mosh pit paintings, to his street sign "interventions" and lamp-post candle vigils, to his genius series of "caged" people trapped behind vents and hidden throughout the city, the work of Dan Witz is nothing short of spectacular and promises to only get better with time.