Exhibition and Artist’s Talk: Before the Plate: Andrew DeCaen

Holy Family University Art Gallery
Education and Technology Center (first floor)
9801 Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia, Pa 19114
https://holyfamilyartgallery.wordpress.com/
Gallery Hours: 7:30am-5pm
Exhibition Dates: 11/15/23 – 12/4/23
Reception and Artist’s Gallery Talk: Wednesday 11/29, Noon
Entrance: Free and open to the public
Contact (gallery Info): Professor Pamela Flynn, Gallery Director, [email protected]
Contact (artist): Andrew DeCaen, [email protected]
Philadelphia, PA, Holy Family University is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of artworks by Andrew DeCaen. The exhibition will include flat and sculptural works on paper using lithography, screen-printing, laser-etched and folded paper. The work will be on view from November eleventh to December fourth at the Holy Family University Art Gallery on the first floor of the Education and Technology Center. The artist will be present for a reception and gallery talk on Wednesday 11/29 at Noon.

EXHIBITION STATEMENT: Before the Plate
Why are rituals surrounding a meal so important to all cultures? What does it mean to share a meal with someone? How does this mundane experience shape our lives? This exhibition explores visual metaphors surrounding the psychology of a meal. Andrew DeCaen’s flat and sculptural works on paper depict varied situational meal scenes that ask open-ended questions about fellowship, community, influence, longing, and instinct. They explore the space and experience of being before the plate.
This exhibition explores Andrew DeCaen’s continuing themes of rituals surrounding food. The imagery slows down mundane experiences to linger in the smallest moments. These artworks use the theme of eating as a metaphor to explore the concept of the individual in relation to others and to community. The works use printmaking’s natural layering techniques to explore simultaneous space and time and the processes of learning, remembering, and forgetting. These images explore the intimacy of familiar experiences while asking fundamental questions about who we are.

Decaen’s Blue Plans series and Gathering series are featured prominently in the exhibition. The Blue Plans series employ blue lines as a way of connecting to both the analytical side of planning and the emotional side of accepting imperfect realities. There are references to architectural schematics, exploded diagrams, and isometric drawings contrasted by figures inhabiting those theoretical spaces. Among the Blue Plans series, a paper sculpture called Handle Burn mimics the form of a perforated oven mitt. The Gathering series includes a group of nearly identical prints depicting an extended family meal. Each variation removes different people from the table to suggest shifted family dynamics of those present and those missing. A sculptural piece called Inevitable Object depicts the same imagery on the surface of a holiday party “popper” set on a plate with utensils.

BIO STATEMENT:
Andrew DeCaen’s artworks use drawing, printmaking, and sculpture to examine rituals and habits surrounding the space, time, and ways we eat, prepare, and acquire our meals. DeCaen grew up in southern California, received a BA from the University of Dallas and an MFA from the University of South Dakota. His artworks have been shown broadly in the US and internationally in Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, England, Finland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Romania, Sweden, and Turkey. DeCaen’s artworks have been featured in publications as Drawing magazine, Printmaking Today, and 500 Paper Objects. DeCaen lives and works in Denton, Texas where he is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of North Texas.
www.andrewdecaen.com