EKDgallery
THREE GENERATIONS OF ARTISTS
WITH A PASSION FOR COLOR
50:
A Selection of New Works by Don Munson
FEBRUARY 15 - APRIL 12
"Images are organic, minimal, wordless stories. These are visual marks of energy." Don Munson, Edmund: A Voice Unheard
EKD Gallery is pleased to present 50, a selection of new paintings by Don Munson on view from February 15 through April 12.
After completing 50 paintings over the course of 2021, Don Munson presents a selection of nine new works with an ultramodern intensity. In this series, the artist continuously reinvents his career-long dedication to the intersection of graphic design and painting. Raw, bold strokes of pure color vibrate next to the delicacy of a crisp pencil line. Biomorphic shapes suggest a leaf, a rising moon sliding against geometric form.
Munson directs the viewer to the subtleties of a secular nature. In the digital age where nature is often composed of pixels, Munson's allegorical references transform the familiar anew. Form is interchangeable with language, and the viewer is encouraged to read between the lines.
Don Munson is the author of visual joy.
TORN PAPER #2
Acrylic and graphite on 144lb Arches
9 x 9 inches
2021
$1500
I Paint. There is no off button. Only calm. Painting each day.
HANOVER I
Acrylic and graphite on 300lb Arches
30 x 22 inches
2021
$2500
I know how and when to put the ’Brush’ down. Rest after the day's work.
However, the creative gears are always at work.
DIEBENKORN
Acrylic and graphite on 144lb Arches
9 x 9 inches
2021
$1500
Like a Fresco, setting out colors for the days work. Silver planned for six different paintings today. Treat the acrylic no different than oils.
Let them dry overnight.
HANOVER IV
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
2021
$4000
Looking at three other maquette drawings in my notebook for more image layouts. There are forty two of these new works each nine by nine inch as part of ‘FIFTY’ Series.
These paintings contain three 9” squares as well, each turned on an angle like diamonds stacked from left to right forming a chevron becoming the ’Trinity Diamonds.’
"A"
Acrylic and graphite on 144lb Arches
9 x 9 inches
2021
$1500
CHESNUT
Acrylic and graphite on 144lb Arches
9 x 9 inches
2021
$1500
Following the ’Trinity Diamonds’, starting with three new 30" square canvases, ‘Hanover II, III, & IV’ completing my ‘FIFTY’ Series 2021.
HANOVER III
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
2021
$4000
Multiple Sclerosis always confronts me. I do not let it stop me as a handicap.
I continue on with a positive seventy six years-young attitude.
BIRD OF PARADISE
Acrylic and graphite on 144lb Arches
9 x 9 inches
2021
$1500
Always re-emerging, my next series starting in 2022 are all works on canvas 36”square. There will be more. At least a dozen.
Most likely more. Yes, there is no off button.
HANOVER II
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 30 inches
2021
$4000
Just Art. I Paint.
- D.E.M.
As an undergraduate at the Parson's School of Design, Don’s professor of three dimensional design urged him, "You must choose between graphic design and painting."
In a career spanning over fifty years, Don Munson has dedicated his practice to the fusion of graphic design and painting as an esteemed illustrator, graphic designer, painter, and poet.
At 16 years old, Munson began his studies at Parsons School of Design, studying under Arnold Bittleman, Athos Zacharias, and Josef Albers. His work is in such public collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Heckscher Museum, and the Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration. Don has taught drawing, illustration, art history, design, typography and advertising at the Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, and City University of New York. He has worked with Salvador Dali at the Museum of Modern Art, teaching him to utilize new techniques in producing art cards.
In a notable career of Publishing and Advertising, Don served as the Division Vice President and Art Director for Ballantine/Del Rey/Fawcett Books at Random House where he developed seven original typeface fonts and created covers for over 500 books. He won the Association of Science Fiction Artists's Chesley Award for Best Art Director in 1991. He has been nominated for a Grammy for his work on the Chicago VI album cover and held clients such as Readers Digest and The New York Times.
Don currently works in his "Red Stair Studio" in his home in Longmeadow, MA and recently published his first novella, Edmund: A Voice Unheard in July 2021.
Works available to view by appointment.
Contact: Karen Reid at ekdgallery@gmail.com