NOTEBOOKS by Daniel Mc Keon.

DANIEL Mc KEON

: NOTEBOOKS :

Notebooks SKETCHBOOK Diary PAGES Covers Look COLLECTION Reference JOURNAL Photo’s EPHEMERAL Response VISUALS Artistbook Now WINDOW Zone UNLIMITED Door MASK Frame PARALLEL Poetry FANTASY Newsreel QUANTUM Scream FUCK METAPHOR Drawing MUSINGS Amazing LISTINGS Toy PASTE Innovation STUDIO Jumble TRANSLATIONS Mashup OUTLINE Parable HUMAN Rays RADIO Top OCEAN Roller SILENT Life RECTANGLE Void SQUARE Wallpaper CELL Transient SYNTH Babble LOUNGETRONICA Aesthete FLOW Voices VIBES Study TRASH Book METAMORPHOSIS Unmapped SIMULACRUM Cooked PENDULUM Converse PSEUDO Appendix BIOPSY Thesaurus CHICKENSOUP Discourse.

Daniel Mc Keon ©

NOTEBOOKS 2015

NOTEBOOKS 2015 : DANIEL Mc KEON Š.

This artist book called NOTEBOOKS could easily be called a Journal, Sketchbook, Diary, it is what artist normally do compiling material information to use at a later date in their work. In some cases this can be the artwork itself as with sketch books of drawings made in the more traditional sense were the sketches can be valid artworks in their own right.

This current artist book of mine is the result of research undertaken over the past number of years some artworks are recent others going back much further in time. The NOTEBOOKS are a reflection of my practice whereby I use photography, collage, mixed media, drawings and paintings to make images or visuals, I usually then scan the results into a computer to digitalize them. After this the artworks can then be used to make digital prints of various dimensions to be uploaded to websites or social media sites.

My main area of interest which I feel is of most significance to me is my painting practice where I keep a studio to make this work. In an age where a lot of contemporary artists are post studio, post internet and make so called dematerialized artwork, the commitment of running a studio to work from is no small deal in finding the resources to fund this space. The paintings I produce are very traditional in the sense that they are usually made using acrylic and oil paint on paper, canvas and other surfaces. The paintings are process driven from a deep intuitive level of being responding in the moment to what is taking place at that time within the artwork surface. Most of my paintings are of an abstract nature which I feel imbues the paintings with a sense of timelessness and freedom to exist in their own right as independent object in time and space.

The NOTEBOOKS encompassing photography and collage explore other areas of interest, a mashup of anything from popular culture, art history to science influences the production and exploration of concepts. I hope that the visuals, text found in my artist books will help stimulate your imagination to go on a mental journey as I have in their making.

NOTEBOOKS is published as an e-book which I find a very democratic way to publish books as it cuts through all the boundaries that more traditional publishing requires, it can enable artists to get their work to a larger audience. The benefits being found in the feedback and debate suck work can generate with a diverse public not necessarily the usual art world target.

This artist e-book now exists as a digital file on a hard drive which is used in order to publish in the e-book online format, it can also be printed as a hardcopy book at a later stage or when finances become available to print in larger quantities if so required.

Real physical books are an untold joy in the pleasure and awareness they can bring to the reader, the texture and act of turning real pages is a very different experience than seeing on a computer screen. Artist Books I think in the future can bring new life to a very old medium by communicating ideas in a non verbal way, slowing us down and forming connections with our brains ability to articulate other narratives from enacting this process out. The artist book does not need to follow a beginning, middle, end reading scenario as is the case with more conventional types of literature.

The NOTEBOOKS project as it is digitalized can be exhibited as a self contained slide projection in a gallery context with or without sound added. The world is a complex place and this research, notebook, sketchbook of mine I carried out on a daily bases at my studio and everywhere I go. It helps me to make sense of my life and the world around me as I experience it on an individual level. As humans we are like islands isolated from our fellow human beings, its one of arts redeeming features music-film-books-painting-theatre-sculpture that can break down this feeling or state of unease to realign us all through our shared humanity. So please experience this NOTEBOOKS artist project with an open mind and perhaps you can bring your own new interpretations and associations to the material as you turn its pages.

MIMESIS

Negative

space

MOLD

with this ring

BONDAGE

SURFACE

SUPPORT

CURTAIN

IRON

APPROPRIATIONS

ORANGE

O

O

Anthony Rudenko RIP 2013

+ +

PIXILATE : OBLITERATE : SECRET LIFES : ICONS

PURGATORY

Lamp under a Bushel

Like as the waves make towards the pepl’d shore, So do our minutes hasten to their end;

DAGGERS DAY

St Bridget’s Well Sheeps Head Liscannor,County Clare Ireland.

Eternal rest grant unto them,O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them.May the souls of the faithful departed,through the marcy of God rest in peace. Amen

ICARUS

ENCLOSURE

La vie en rose.

The Stolen Child Where dips the rocky highland Of Sleuth Wood in the lake, There lies a leafy island Where flapping herons wake The drowsy water rats; There we’ve hid our faery vats.

Full of berries, And of reddest stolen cherries.

Come away,O human child!

To the waters and the wild With a faery,hand in hand, For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

W.B. Yeats

L O

O

SEE

K

LEAK - WATER DAMAGE DESTRUCTION

A WORKS FUSE R T

RASH

X

M

A S S

BURNOUT

ANALOGUE

HOMELESS

FOOD

PORN

Daniel Mc Keon Daniel Mc Keon's recent practice has encompassed a range of different series that have converged developmentally and contributed to the evolution of Chroma. When examining works from the Gravity and Painting Light series', the gradual transition and assimilation of overlapping concerns are absorbed and integrated into this new body of work.

The progression between the different pieces in composition, tone and textural effects can be mapped through this diverse body of work, each cycle of paintings feeding into the subsequent series. The sensibility of the paintings is manifested in the blurred, graduated layers of paint, compounded by the synthesis of the paints sheen and luminosity, which constantly evolve depending on the environmental conditions determined by the light source. The paintings have an added element when seen over a long period of time in good daylight, as the continuous change in atmospheric conditions fluctuate to reveal the transformative qualities of the work, bringing new insights to the viewer.

Architecture and photography significantly influence Mc Keon's practice, through constant documentation and recording of his surroundings, often feeding into his studio practice. Mc Keon regulates the structural affinities between painting and architecture by employing devices such as installation and assemblages. He places emphasis on the form and symmetry of architectural elements by installing large-scale works in synchrony, in a grid-like structure, which reference the backdrop of steel and glass buildings that society has become accustomed to in the outside environment.

The reflective nature of Mc Keon's works address the tension between the time constraints of painting in tandem with the immediacy of the world around us. In this particular instance, drawing on the sensibility of the paintings to echo how buildings can often mirror back their own surroundings. Another process Mc Keon has engaged with is the assemblage of works, by overlapping and stacking canvases of varying scales, amalgamated to become one piece, these works become reminiscent of colourful, urban landscapes, which could be likened to the metropolitan skyline.

All painters are concerned with the primal source of light and how this path of visual enquiry informs their work. In addition to this fundamental component, Mc Keon considers the impact of display, carefully juxtaposing the placement and presentation of his assembled works. This is an intrinsic part of the process driven work produced by Mc Keon, and contributes to the overall identity of the pieces. The final factor integral to his oeuvre, is the importance of exhibiting the artwork and the necessity of the viewer in the equation, as it is the junction where the pieces come to life as the art is being experienced.

Rowan Sexton, January 2013.

Text by Rowan Sexton independent curator: press release for the exhibition CHROMA 2013 : at the Courthouse Gallery Ennistymon Co.Clare Ireland.

CHROMA New Paintings by Daniel Mc Keon : Video by Fergus Tighe : http://vimeo.com/68055208 http://youtu.be/BMUYJ5H8zL0

Artist Book : Reflections : Steel and Glass Project.

http://issuu.com/danielmckeon/docs/reflections_steel_and_glass_project_./1

CONTACT : STUDIO DANIEL Mc KEON 6 HENRIETTA STREET DUBLIN 1. IRELAND.

email : danielmckeon426@gmail.com

NOTEBOOKS : ARTIST BOOK PUBLISHED BY DANIEL Mc KEON Š MAY 2015.

EPHEMERA

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