Capetown-based artist DALeast is opening a highly anticipated solo show with The Outsiders in Newcastle on the 22nd of November. The title of the show, Redok, comes from a Tibetan phrase meaning “hope and fear,” and represents the emotions the artist tries to show with his works. The main part of this coherent new body of work are six large scale acrylic on canvas pieces on tea stained backgrounds, created over many months. With the largest piece being 200cm tall, and the smallest around 120cm, these will be some of Dal’s largest works produced to date.
After painting recognizable murals all over the world , and taking part in the recent Brutal show in London (covered), the Chinese-born artist decided to step out of his comfort zone, and create something different. Instead of making smaller canvases, he decided to created larger works this time around. But also, he slightly changed his imagery, so instead of showing some dynamic action, which he is known for, he decided to do traditional portraits of wild animals. While this might seem simple, it was actually very challenging for the artist to apply his unique technique for these kind of works, but the final result, and first information about the presales look very promising.
The show is on view until the 21st of December, and also includes study ink on paper sketches, a video installation, and two limited edition etchings (seen in the images included in this post). These were created at The Outsiders’ print studio – 2 different colorways of a same image titled Circulated Dawn and Circulated Dusk. Each print part of a signed and numbered edition of 50, measuring 62.5cm x 50cm, and priced at £225, and these will be available to those attending the exhibition preview on Thursday the 21st of November.
