The Dennos Museum Center Shows Eric Daigh's Pushpin Art

Written by William Wainscott Tuesday, 13 December 2011 21:44

Traverse City, Michigan.- The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is proud to show "Eric Daigh: Happiness is a Target", on view through April 1st 2012. Portraitist Eric Daigh of Traverse City presents a collection of works spanning his career to date. Claiming to be a photographer sometimes and a painter at others, Daigh is probably best placed in the category of mosaic. His works often include an arrangement of small pixels, most notably pushpins that form a larger picture. Daigh won acclaim in 2009 by taking 3rd place in the inaugural ArtPrize competition, held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Since then, Daigh has gone on to group and solo shows nationwide, commissions, collections, larger works, etc. This show will features works from the very beginning of Daigh's career in pushpins, as well as recent work involving sculptural installations and street art.

Daigh states of his own work, “In my work I aim to explore themes of individuality and representation. My subjects are imprisoned, diluted, marginalized. Their escape, however, is imminent. Whether a symptom of corporate and social homogenization, or the four base pairs of DNA, we are products of just a small handful of variables. In five colors of plastic, you can be reproduced. I enjoy very much making something digital with my hands. I enjoy making work that requires a physical proximity. I enjoy the fact that this work travels from the intangible, the binary, to the tactile, the singular. By invoking these mediums, I hope to generate a dialogue and sentiment that has something to do with the effort, repetition, focus, discipline, absurdity, and love that went into its making. Ultimately, then, I hope those themes come crashing through the human in front of you, and spill over onto those you're standing next to, those you know and those you have yet to know. I hope you spend more time staring at people's faces and that you feel something in the process.” Eric Daigh was born in Orange, California in 1977, the son of a painter and a dental hygienist and graduated from the University of Montana. He now lives and works in Northern Michigan with his wife and son. Daigh has exhibited at many national venues, including ArtPadSF, Art Chicago, The Armory Show, New York, NY and Art Chicago as well as having had solo shows in Michigan. Daigh is in the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the “Largest Pushpin Mosaic” and his work is in the Ripley’s Believe it or Not permanent museum collection.

The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College is a premier cultural facility in northern Michigan offering a dynamic array of exhibitions and programs in the visual arts, sciences and performing arts. Opened in 1991, the Museum Center features three changing exhibit galleries and an elegant sculpture court; a unique hands-on Discovery Gallery and a renowned Inuit Art Gallery; and the acoustic delight of Milliken Auditorium. The Museum's signature collection is Inuit art of the Canadian Arctic, one of the largest and most historically complete collections of these distinctive sculptures and prints in the United States. A significant collection of outdoor sculptures by noted international and Michigan artist surrounds the Museum on the beautiful campus of Northwestern Michigan College. In 2000, the Dennos Museum Center was recognized by ArtServe Michigan with the Governor's Award for Arts and Culture. The Dennos Museum Center houses a collection of more than 2,000 works of art, with over half comprised of Inuit prints and sculptures.  The remainder of the collection includes a diverse array of painting, sculpture and photography. Significant holdings include contemporary works by Michigan artists, 19th and 20th century American and European graphic art, 18th and 19th century Japanese prints, and 20th century Great Lakes Indian and Canadian Indian art. The art collections are shown on a rotating basis as part of the museum's changing exhibitions. Visit the museum's website at ... http://www.dennosmuseum.org

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