Photograph by Ed Pollard, Hasselblad H4D50 - 2018.

VEH

Artist Nick Dawes (British, born 1969)

Date2018

MediumOil on canvas

Dimensions59 1/16 × 81 in. (150 × 205.7 cm)

ClassificationsContemporary art

Credit LineMuseum purchase

Object number2018.34

On View

Not on view

DescriptionA large unprimed canvas with multi-hued paint colors staining the majority of the canvas. The bright colors (blue, yellow, green, red, and orange) are painted in large stripes that overlap each other. The dominate color is a dark blue, though above that are hint of orange, purple, red, and yellow. The overlapping stripes of light and green are next to the dark blue.
Label TextNick Dawes British, b. 1969 VEH, 2018 Oil on canvas What does Britain’s The Highway Code have to do with painting? For artist Nick Dawes, a great deal. He uses codes and acronyms from the guide as a starting point for his painterly style. By starting with text, he connects the notion that language and works are complex structures. The title of his piece, VEH, is an abbreviation for vehicle. His image is a visual interpretation of an intricate machine with easily visible and not so visible layered parts. Dawes’s work is similar as it contains both full and empty spaces with hints of bright color. Dawes dilutes the oil paint, pouring it over an unprimed canvas. The colors bleed into each other, creating shadows of early coats under the newer ones. The artist draws from twentieth-century painting styles Abstract Expressionism and Color Field. His mark reaffirms the flat surface of the canvas with colors symbolizing the ideas of transcendence and infinity. Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, and Jules Olitski were pioneers of these movements. Find their works on view. Museum purchase 2018.34