The conjuring of the red river
may 15 - august 1, 2015
mainspace @ artspace
Skateboarder and Artist Dennis McNett begins his residency where “Generationless – Skateboarders are Artists too” left off. Dennis is a sculptor and installation artist working under the artist’s name, WOLFBAT, with work exhibited and created all over the nation.
During his month-long residency, McNett will transform the first floor of artspace into a giant interactive steam ship - as homage to the steam ship traffic that traveled the Red River before the log jam that Captain Shreve took years to “free.”
Through the mainspace installation, McNett weaves a story that the viking tribe “WOLFBAT” built a riverboat to pull information out of the river. The installation elements feature symbols such as ancient deities, including Pan. Pan inspires rustic music, which links into the Louisiana Hayride perfectly. McNett’s patterns begin as handcut lino prints on birch or sandy plywood. He starts a linocut with a stencil and carves out all of the lines - like drawing with a chisel. McNett has been carving for over 20 years.
artist bio
Dennis McNett graduated from Pratt institute with an MFA degree in 2004, where he taught until 2012. He has shown internationally including The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Me Collection Museum in Berlin, MOHS exhibit in Copenhagen, Galleria Patricia Armocida, Milano, Italy, and nationally including The Ft. Wayne Museum of Art, Museum of Print History, Houston, TX, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville, FL, and Jonathan LeVine Gallery, NYC, Known Gallery, LA. He has been interviewed and featured by the New York Times, Juxtapoz Magazine, NPR, the Houston Chronicle and other notable sources. McNett has also contributed as a visiting artist/lecturer at over thirty Universities, colleges and art centers such as RISD, Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art, Mexi-Arte Museum, Universidad De Monterrey Monterrey, Mexico, and the John Michelle Kohler Art Center. Aside from showing and contributing to fine art institutions, his work has filled the window displays of Barney’s in NYC, has been displayed on dozens of Antihero skateboards, can be found on murals/street in places such as NYC, Philadelphia and Richmond, VA.
For more works from Dennis, visit his website: http://wolfbat.com
