Dan Schank, Dropouts.

173 W. Girard Avenue        Philadelphia, PA 19123        267.519.3884      www.rebekahtempleton.com

Dropouts
Dan Schank

September 13 to October 20, 2012. Opening Reception:  Thursday September 13, 6 – 9 pm 

Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art is pleased to present Dropouts an exhibition of new work by Dan Schank. Schank’s recent cut paper and gouache paintings create a universe populated by the objects and architecture of everyday life. His imagined worlds are devoid of people but filled with the common debris of human civilization.

For Dropouts, Schank has created a group of works that combine imagery of utopian architectural models with that of a post-apocalyptic landscape. Stemming from an essay written by Adam Curtis about Knut Kloster, the co-founder of Norwegian Cruise lines, Schank examines the ideological beginnings of the cruise ship industry with the historical and psychological notion of the frontier. “Kloster’s story got me thinking about the utopian fantasies that cruise ships provide, and the ideas they’ve implicitly inherited from the counterculture of the 1960’s and early 70’s. In its sanitized, uncontroversial way, the cruise ship allows one to “drop out” of society for a short time and a small price. It provides the illusion of a self- sustaining commune, with its permissive hedonism and endless supply of snacks and drinks.”

In Dropouts, the escapism and romance of the sea is implicitly dystopic. There are no figures, no notion of heroism or of nature as the sublime. Instead,Schank’s fantasy environments point toward the philosophical ruins of extreme human ideologies.

 Dan Schank earned his BFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University and his MFA from the University of California at San Diego. He currently lives and works in Erie, PA. This is his second solo show with the Gallery.

 Dropouts opens on Thursday, September 13, 2012 with an opening reception with the artists from 6 – 9 pm. The exhibition closes Saturday, October 20, 2012.