Central will welcome the works of Delano Dunn to the Mills Gallery in the Lubbers Center for the Visual Arts from Nov. 8 to Dec. 10. His exhibit is titled “Delano Dunn: Dreams and Other Fables.”
A virtual presentation with Dunn will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18.
Dunn was selected as the art program’s Allison B. Allen Visiting Artist. The Allison B. Allen Visiting Artist series emphasizes expanding the diversity of artistic experiences and cultural outlooks for Central art students and the campus community. Designated artists and their exhibited works are funded entirely by the Allison B. Allen Visiting Artist Fund. Dunn will return during the Spring semester for a weeklong residency.
Through painting, mixed media and collage, Dunn explores questions of racial identity and perception within various contexts, ranging from the personal to the political, and drawing from his experience growing up in South Central Los Angeles. His works employ archival images pulled from such sources as vintage Creole cookbooks, comic books, 1860s issues of Harper’s Bazaar housed in the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and photojournalism of the Civil Rights era, among others.
He has had solo exhibitions in New York City, Los Angeles and Buffalo, New York. Group exhibitions include “I Like The Sound of That” at Artspace in New Haven, Connecticut; “Liberty and (in)Justice for All” at Project for Empty Space in Newark, New Jersey; PULSE New York; PULSE Miami with Project for Empty Space and The Long Gallery Harlem; and The Delaware Contemporary.
Features and interviews include The New York Times, VICE Creators, Black Lives Matter, ArtNoir and Black Artist News. Dunn was the recipient of Sustainable Arts Foundation Grant; the College Art Association’s Visual Arts Graduate Fellowship in 2016; the Delaware Contemporary’s Curator’s Choice Award; and the School of Visual Art’s Edward Zutrau Memorial Award.
Dunn has completed residences at Project for Empty Space in Newark, New Jersey; The Wassaic Artist Residency; SPACE at Ryder Farm; and Arts + Public Life. In addition, he is a board member for The Wassaic Project. His works are in numerous collections, including the Studio Museum of Harlem.
Dunn received his BFA in illustration from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and his MFA in fine arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, with his wife and two children.
