The Sufferers.

The Sufferers.
50x50″
Mixed media on canvas.
SOLD 

The basic idea is a criticism of our current attitudes about death and our practices for memorialization. Instead of celebrating the person we are so sad to lose, we enhance and memorialize our sadness about them through our practices and actions. We solemnly listen to people talk about thing like how they are on to a better place, only focusing on the loss, not the previous countless memories that cause this loss to be so hard. Instead of working to memorialize the person, we "honor" them by feeling horrible for days, weeks, or months. That's not to say we cannot feel loss or sadness, but that our actions surrounding death, in my view, should be better focused on celebrating the person, not mourning the loss of that person. In short, we should look at death as a reason to celebrate the life that was so meaningful, not to wallow in our own want for that person to still be with us.

More generally, the piece is a call to readdress our outlook on life, death and the world around us. We seem to think that the destination is the ultimate goal of life, however when we reach that destination (death), no matter how fulfilling a life, it is seen as a loss. Even so, we move through each day as if there is some grand “end” we are more interested in achieving. Why forsake the current for a “goal” we don’t seem to fully want or understand? Why focus on an “end” when, if we reach it, we still feel like something is missing? Why do we seem to “celebrate” the state of death rather than the much more beloved state of life? Why do we fill our lives with constant attention to the deadline rather than the time spent getting there?

Again, This is not to say that we can’t feel loss or sadness, that we cannot mourn the loss of the people we love, or that we should not look at the ultimate results of our current actions. What it is saying is that we should not treat death as this momentous milestone…but simply as a small part, the very end, of a long and illustrious journey we all are currently making our way toward.

When we focus on death, we build a barrier between what we loved and what we wish we still had...if we focus on life, that barrier becomes a transition from what we loved to what we remember and still love.

The Sufferers was recently sold and is on it's way to a private collector in the Twin Cities in Minnesota.

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Check out more of Daniel's work at the links below or send him an email with questions or inquiries.
http://www.dflemingart.com/
http://danielflemingart.tumblr.com/archive

Look Elsewhere, Orlando. 6/11/2014

Look Elsewhere, Orlando.
36x44"
Acrylic on canvas.

Inspired by the sudden and somewhat mysterious death of a friend, Look Elsewhere, Orlando is a portrait of those lost addressing or confronting that from which they are attempting to overcome.

The title speaks to the attempt to escape that issue through a change of location, ultimately realizing that the issue, not the place, is the problem. Symbolized by the Lion, the subject gazes backward, finding the "issue" driving them forward. In a state of shock, the subject realizes that "issue" continuing to follow, despite them having turned their back before. This is not meant to display someone running away...to show a weak or strong character...but to acknowledge the constant presence of our vices, despite our best efforts.

Rather than laying blame, showing anger, hoping to change the future or denying the current state, the piece memorializes a vision of the person lost simply living alongside that which drove them, for better or worse.

L.E.O. is not a piece celebrating life, damning vices nor glossing over reality, it simply shows the state of things.

El Dorado. 2/7/2016

El Dorado.44x54"
Mixed media on canvas.

Despite more technology at our fingertips, more information at our disposal, more options for what to do with our future, and more ability to move from place to place than every before in the history of humanity, many find ourselves yearning daily for what is just beyond our reach. We seem to have every possible avenue for happiness, yet we continue to search for something beyond.

El Dorado takes inspiration from the age-old tale of the search for the lost golden city as a metaphor for our constant desire for what's next. Conquistadors came, conquered, and destroyed civilizations, yet, for centuries, they continued to arrive simply wanting more but often leaving in worse shape (or not at all). After obtaining virtually everything, they found only an insatiable desire for more.

El Dorado is not arguing that you should not seek to improve ones circumstance...it is not saying that you should be content where you are. It is arguing that if you are to move onto the next thing, that that new thing be worthwhile and not simply done out of restlessness.

Many continuously think "better" is just somewhere that they are not...and that's the crux of the issue. When change is simply an avenue to encounter something "better", that avenue must continue as those new places become familiar and, yet again, boring. If change is an avenue to improving the self, the change itself ceases to be the goal and a destination can be found.

Auction Blocks. 4/5/2015

Auction Blocks.
60x48″
Acrylic on canvas.
Auction prices for modern and contemporary art has skyrocketed in recent years while the majority of the general public watch in confusion, even horror, as the equivalent of a large business' annual budget is spent on a painted piece of canvas. We are awed more by the "value" than the work itself...but is that the fault of the work, the artist, the viewer, the dealer, the market or everyone involved?

Auction Blocks is about cultural and monetary value. When our world is largely run by an ability, or lack-there-of, to pay, is the value of art dependent on it’s dollar worth or it’s ability to inspire? And in a world so focused on profit and power, is there much of a difference?

Join the conversation over on Facebook and Instagram
Check out more of Daniel's work at the links below or send him an email with questions or inquiries.
http://www.dflemingart.com/
http://danielflemingart.tumblr.com/archive