Broken Verse

Darrell Nettles Broken Verse

Darrell Nettles Broken Verse

2017

Broken Verse The Charlie Hebdo attack on January 7, 2015, marked the start of my new work. I felt a strong need to turn this attack on free speech into art.

I extracted the text from a staff editorial in the

When I started incorporating Genesis in my

New York Times, which became the background

paintings, it was like discovering a gold mine. Then

for studies, drawings, and paintings. The hard

Shakespeare came along, and I was swept away.

news became an abstract artifact of an era.

Transforming the text gave the words new power and, by extension, gave my paintings layered meaning. This was my first experience using text both as the background and subject of a painting.

Next, I turned to Greek mythologies for further inspiration but found them unsatisfying. The stories were English translations of retold myths and not original. The writing lacked the sense of immediacy I was seeking.

After the Charlie Hebdo attack, my mood was very dark. Shakespeare provided a home for that darkness as well as a window for great beauty. As poetry became more important in my life, I saw more possibilities for paintings.

When text is transposed to canvas, it becomes beautiful in an entirely new way. Instead of reading it one word at a time in black type, you take it all in at once, with color, shape, and form. It enters your brain and your heart by another avenue. On canvas,

It was then a natural step to the Book of Genesis.

it becomes a monument to treasure, instead of

Even though it is also an English translation,

paper to recycle.

the language of the King James version is very powerful. I was taught as a child that this is the word of God. I heard these scriptures, repeatedly, in church and Bible School throughout my early childhood, and the words still ring in my ears today.

Classic writings of others have become my own.

On canvas and freed from their dusty, historic bindings, they now speak in new ways. And they are mine, yours, and everyone else’s who reads them as they hang on walls. Isn’t that what free speech really means?

Darrell Nettles New York City, 2017

Take Not, 2017 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

With Sight, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

Fair Sky, 2017 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

See All, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 72” x 54”

Lake Near, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

With Her, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

Part Well, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

Night Lips, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

Life’s Tale, 2016 acrylic on canvas, 82” x 60”

Bio Born Richmond, Virginia, October 27, 1948 Education 1967-68 Architecture, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 1971-72 Printmaking, Art History, Psychology, BFA, U of F 1974-75 Painting, Master’s Program, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Ga.

Solo Exhibitions 1995 1996 1996 1998 1999

2000 2006 2015

Corriente Alterna, Lima, Peru, Tétradas Patterns, J. J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, California O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York, Woven Canvas O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York, The Endless Line La Segunda Iberoamericana Bienal de Lima (Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano) Instalación de Tétradas O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York, Tetrads Robert Steele Gallery (The Project Room) New York, Standard Measure Paintings Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York, Broken Verse

Group Exhibitions 1978 1979 1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985 1986 1992 1993 1994

1995 1999 2000 2004 2005 2008 2014 2015 2016 2017

File 3/13, Hansen Gallery, New York Small Works, NYU Gallery (Juror: Ivan Karp), New York Inaugural Group Show, Semaphore Gallery, New York Four Painters, Soho Center for the Visual Arts, New York Sixteen Painters, Semaphore Gallery, New York The Working Process, Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Columbus Circle Gallery, New York The Fourth of July, Public Image Gallery, New York Recent Acquisitions, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Conn.

Painting in Photography, Daniel Wolf Gallery New York The Famous Show, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York Beyond the American Standard, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York Small Works, Amherst College, Mass.

Terminal New York, Brooklyn, NY Exposition Ete, Maximillien Guiol, Paris, France Gracie Mansion Presents..., Kamikaze, New York Lower East Side Polygon, Danceteria, New York Drawings into Paintings, Gallery 411/12, New York New Talent, Harm Bouckaert Gallery, New York Site-Specific Sculpture, Greathouse Gallery, New York Sculpture, Civilian Warfare Gallery, New York, Contemporary Triptychs, Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson, New York Painting into Photography, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, New York New Summer, Pietrasanta Gallery, New York Abstraction, Greathouse Gallery, New York Group, D’Kada Gallery, Madrid, Spain Crosscurrents, Step Gallery, New York Salon, Tribeca 48 Gallery, New York Hospice, Cabrini Medical Center, New York Small Works, NYU Gallery (Juror: Jackie Littlejohn), New York Review, O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York Small Works, NYU Gallery (Juror: Tricia Collins), New York Selection, O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York Summer View, Robert Steele Gallery, New York O.K.Harris Works on Paper, Andrews University, Berrien, Michigan Artists’ Choice, Noho Gallery – M55 Art, New York Miami Basel, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, Miami, Florida Winter Salon, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York Winter Salon, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York

Catalogues/ Newspapers/ Periodicals 1981

1982

1983 1984

1995

New York Times, “The working process”, Grace Glueck, April 17 The Working Process, Organization of Independent Artist Essay by Henry Geldzahler, New York Flash Art, Nicholas Moufarege, November Arts Magazine, Nicholas Moufarege, September Southern Accents, summer, p.48-49 New York Times, “The camera’s role as tool is growing”, William Zimmer, April 22 Contemporary Triptychs, Bard College, New York Small Works, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, Ma. Caretas, “Tétradas”, Luis Lama, November 9, p.49, Lima Peru Gestión, “Geometría precolombiana en pintura de artista norteamericano”,

1998

1999

2000

2010

2014

2015

November 2, p.2/B El Comercio, “Darrell Nettles, la espiritualidad del pasado”, November 2, p.8/C Expreso, “Darrell Nettles, un artista norteamericano en Corriente Alterna”, November 2, p.3/B Darrell Nettles, The Continuous Line, with an Essay by Donald Kuspit O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York Expreso, “Darrell Nettles, El balance del blanco y negro”, Ketty Cadillo, October 30, p.4/B La Segunda Iberoamericana Bienal de Lima Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima, Peru New American Paintings, #26, Juror: Terrie Sultan The Open Studios Press, Wellesley, Ma. New American Paintings, 15th Anniversary Edition The Open Studios Press, Wellesley, Ma. Artist’s Choice, Gallery artists choose guest artists Noho Gallery – M55 ART The Wall Street Journal, Peter Plagens, November 20, A18

Commissions/Projects/Grants 1982 1983 1990 1991

Egon Schiele, A play by Stephan Fechter, New York Windows, Art installation commissioned for Bergdorf Goodman, New York Faultline, Art commissioned for a play by Morgan Jennes, New York Adolph Gottlieb Foundation, New York

Collections - Museums

Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Centro de Artes Visuales, Lima, Peru Museum of Modern Art (Národní Galerie), Prague, Czech Republic Marifí Plazas Gal Collection, Museo Regional de Arte Moderno, Cartagena, Spain

Collections - Corporate, Miscellaneous

Analysis Group, Chicago, Illinois Anderson-Cook, Inc., Detroit Michigan Bank of America, San Francisco, California Banque Nationale de Paris, Paris, France Cabrini Medical Center, New York City of Chesterfield, Missouri Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Boston, Massachusetts Corriente Alterna, Lima, Peru Dean Witter Company, New York Escarpenter, Barcelona, Spain Exxon/Mobil Oil Collection, Hamburg, Germany Farer Fersko, Westfield, New Jersey Galetea’s Art Collection, St. Helena, California Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, PC, St. Louis, Missouri Harvard School of Business, Cambridge, Ma. Wynn Kramarsky Collection, New York KrasnePlows, New York Legorburu, Palma de Mallorca, Spain López-Mayordomo Collection, Valencia Marcus W. Stroh Collection, Mayorca Lewis, Rice Fingerush, Attorneys at Law, St. Louis, Missouri Missouri State Bank, St. Louis, Missouri National Reinsurance Corporation, Stamford, Connecticut Needham, Harper and Steers, New York Pfizer, New York Sunoco Oil Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Swissre Corporation, New York University of Arkansas, Jonesboro, Arkansas Westwood Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada Wilmington Trust Company, Wilmington, Delaware

Darrell Nettles www.dnettles.com