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untitled #1216, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1216, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36193

untitled #1224, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1224, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36198

untitled #1264, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1264, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36206

untitled #1217, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1217, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36192

untitled #1228, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1228, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36204

untitled #1231, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1231, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36195

untitled #1215, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1215, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36214

untitled #1210, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,

untitled #1210, 2022, Acrylic on illustration board,
17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36292

untitled #1253, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36211

untitled #1253, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36211

untitled #1257, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36208

untitled #1257, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36208

untitled #1256, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36209

untitled #1256, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36209

untitled #1252, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36212

untitled #1252, 2023, Acrylic on illustration board, 17 x 12 inches, 43.2 x 30.5 cm, MMG#36212

Press Release

Known for multilayered abstractions with a collage sensibility, Roy Dowell’s latest paintings present sunbaked rhythms of geometric shapes and overlapping patterns. The artist’s third solo exhibition with the gallery features a series of intimately scaled works, opening on 8 February at 520 West 21st Street. 

Dowell’s unique visual language, developed over the past 45 years, stems from his interest in cross-cultural iconography and symbols.  A perpetual observer, he finds inspiration in a myriad of visual cues, with nods to the canon of modern and contemporary art; ethnographic patterns and textiles; advertising trends and design; and even traffic lights. The paintings act as a conduit for excavating and unraveling meaning, inviting the viewer to search for connections between interpretive possibilities. 

With a process as varied and layered as his ideation for the work, Dowell thins Flashe paints to achieve a transparent, matte quality once dry. Patterns build, solidify, and suggest movement, with pulsating concentric circles hypnotically pulling the viewer past the surface. In the catalogue essay, David Pagel writes, “Dowell locks down a composition by eliminating details and blocking out a large or small section, like an edit that makes everything more concise, spot-on, point-blank… he dials-down his colors as he paints layer after layer, necessitating slow-reads, rather than fast-takes, and satisfying long looks, rather than swift glances.”

Roy Dowell (b. 1951 in Bronxville, NY) received his Master of Fine Arts and his Bachelor of Arts from the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA and studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, CA. 

Dowell has been the subject of solo exhibitions at The Landing, Los Angeles, CA; Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, NY; Bolsky Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA; as-is.la, Los Angeles, CA; Tif Sigfrids Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Proxy Paris @Galerie Ygrec, Paris, France; and James Harris Gallery, Seattle, WA. 

His work has been included in institutional group exhibitions at the Centro Cultural del México Contemporáneo, Mexico City, Mexico; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Musée d’art moderne et d’art contemporain, Nice, France; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA, and elsewhere. 

Dowell’s work may be found in the collections of the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, CA; Colección Jumex, Mexico City, Mexico; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA ; and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA, among others. 

He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA and Mexico City, Mexico.

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