Dan Motill
" A Man About Towns "
The single building images and Village-scapes are all authentic places..usually in Upstate or the Southern Tier region of New York. The few exceptions to this will be noted later.
The scenes are the result of rigorous historical research.. .not for absolute authenticity as with History Artists, but to identify the underlying influences that caused the community to happen or develop in its manner. This influence may be a dominate institution; a commercial enterprise; a church or political force. Usually, there are several and the larger or older the community, the more influences exist. Through collaboration with local historians or older members of the community, the artist/researcher must decide which entities to include in his composition.
In addition to this historical component, the artist looks to consider more contemporary influences as similarly noted above. Again, local newspapers and inhabitants are sought out for this contemporary view. Here again, the artist chooses those elements for his composition.
Part of the composing process is to cause these two influence forces to exist simultaneously on the same canvass with a natural blending. The American Primitive Art tradition allows the artist to integrate these two spheres with people adventures found in everyday life.. hence, the close activity detail. Photographic accuracy of the village and time are sacrificed to achieve the artist's goals.
This display shows the artists focus; first on the smaller villages among the Fingerlakes which were affected by the demise of agriculture; second on the Erie canal as it reemerges as an economic force in New York. The artist's goal is to document all of the major canal towns and rural communities in the Fingerlakes region. And occasionally, focus on a single entity in a community which deserves special attention.
While the bulk of this work deals with New York, he has done work on the Railroad Strike in Pullman/Chicago (because George Pullman lived in Albion, NY) and Notre Dame campus development.
Currently, all original work is done with environmentally-friendly Acrylic paints. To share his work, the artist generates affordable reproductions which are produced, framed, and matted within his studio.
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