Coins From The Trevi Fountain

Dylan Riley

PUTTY’S CORONATION is pleased to announce the opening of COINS FROM THE TREVI FOUNTAIN, a solo exhibition by Dylan Riley at Putty’s Coronation at 1086 Myrtle Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206 from November 4th—December 2nd, 2022.

In his practice, Dylan Riley investigates the notion and experience of truth embedded in digital and painted images. Each of his paintings challenge the perceived subjectivity of the digital, using a range of virtual systems and traditional tools: images that start as digital drawings rendered with 2D and 3D software are virtually contorted, fractured, and folded into a finalized form that teeters between representation and abstraction. Through painting and error-prone processes of mechanical reproduction, Riley’s work meditates on the way in which contemporary images are produced and consumed.

COINS FROM THE TREVI FOUNTAIN presents Riley latest creations: six large-scale acrylic paintings stretched on panels. Made in the past year during Riley’s recent move to Los Angeles, the paintings boast sky blues, pastoral earth tones, and sunset pinks. Amongst the blocks of color, hints of representative imagery can be seen in black and white ambiguous draped forms. These subjects come from a variety of sources but are often 3D scans of historical art objects, namely fragments of classical sculptures. These elements form a preliminary image that equates to an archaeological stratum of the painting. Once this first picture is complete, Riley meticulously renders it onto canvas using acrylic and elaborate masking techniques.

The six works presented in COINS FROM THE TREVI FOUNTAIN are not just a manicured transliterated material image of its digital counterpart, but a wary objection to the objective. Riley’s paintings stand as a silent nod to the maker and assert the possibility of expression in the cool objectivity of the digital. Although all contemporary images have been technologically enhanced, this body of works enable us to examine ourselves in a renewed form of authenticity.

Dylan Riley (b. 1992) lives and works in Los Angeles. He received an MFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design this year and a BFA in Digital Art from New York University. He has exhibited in group and two person shows across the U.S and is slated to be a resident at the Wassaic Project this winter.