About the Exhibit - Into Open Air

Kyle Dunn’s s exhibit, Into Open Air, is currently on view at P.P.O.W until Oct 17th, 2020.

In Kyle Dunn’s 3D painting/sculptures, he creates dramatic scenes influenced by the Italian cinema. 

“Dunn’s contorted figures ache with emotional and physical desire…amplifying raw emotion within his theatrically staged and fantastically rendered reliefs.” (source) 

“Capturing the simultaneous anxiety and nascent hope of our present moment, Dunn’s lush, luminous and physiologically charged paintings, describe the painful romance of overcoming loss before beginning anew.” (source) 

I can’t think of a more relevant theme in this current day and age. 

“There’s kind of a humor and silliness to big emotions, at least when you’re looking back and processing. Making paintings is a way for me to distill messy situations in my life down to something understandable.” - Kyle Dunn

What’s mesmerizing about Dunn’s works, in addition to their unique ability to escape categorization (is it a painting? A sculpture?) is his use of color. Dunn evokes drama through his rich color palette and ability to capture the vibrancy in the night.

This is particularly evident in this work (above) where the lights of cars and traffic lights are reflected on the car window. 

Another characteristic of Dunn’s work that draws the viewer in is his ability to represent the human body in a beautiful fictional way, that still convinces the viewer of the reality of the situation being represented. This is a hard line to walk. 

“Correct anatomy isn’t important to me – the bodies in my work are extended or bent firstly to emphasize the emotional state of the character, and secondly to serve compositional ends. It’s really about using the body as another tool to exaggerate the characters’ intentions.” - Kyle Dunn (source) 

“I think everyone, regardless of gender or appearance, should be free to be as soft or as hard as they like. I personally am a very romantic person and paint men likewise; men aren’t given a space in our culture to be sensual versus sexual, and so I am throwing these images out in the world just hoping it makes more space for people to feel like gender doesn’t have to limit their lives and desires.” (source) 

About the artist - Kyle Dunn

Kyle Dunn lives and works in Queens, NY.

He received a BFA in sculpture from Maryland Institute College of art. 

You can see more of his works on his website or Instagram.