David Dale Gallery is pleased to present The Cosmati Edition by Glasgow based artist Dan Miller. This new edition of prints includes a large-scale linocut and fourteen individual linocuts mounted on birch plywood.
The edition examines the legacy of The Cosmati Pavement (c.1268) in Westminster Abbey, which represents a type of inlaid stone decoration known as Cosmati. The terminology is taken directly from the family of craftsmen who specialised in the technique of Opus Sectile or ‘cut work’. Miller seeks to evaluate the history of this technique, and how it might inform the process of contemporary printmaking.
The pavement consists of a complex system of interlocking forms, most notably the Quincunx. This motif was originally stamped on coins issued by the Roman Republic (c.211-220 BC), but has now entered the digital realm through its use as an anti-aliasing pattern in modern computer graphics.
The edition takes Palle Nielsen’s graphic novel The Enchanted City (1987) as a conceptual point of departure. The linocuts in the exhibition are directly influenced by his depictions of human interaction with urban space. This is complimented by an interest in the reductive geometric paintings of Günther Fruhtrunk (1923-1982). Ultimately, the works in the exhibition seek to explore and exploit the boundaries between figuration, abstraction and mark making.
Dan Miller (b.1980, Brighton, England) lives & works in Glasgow. Miller’s practice moves fluidly across a wide range of media including drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and video. He creates works that investigate the territories of scale, ratio and repetition.
Historiographical research and rigorous technique underpin an investigation into the underlying properties of visual and physical material. Manipulated through strict method and empirical process, works are cross-referenced and rewritten, occupying the liminal environment between digital and analogue platforms.
Solo exhibitions include: Vector, Danske Grafikeres Hus, Copenhagen, 2013; CPH AIR, Factory for Art & Design, Copenhagen, 2010; Still Life, Glasgow International, 2010.
Group exhibitions include: Industrial Aesthetics: Environmental Influences on Recent Art from Scotland, Hunter College, New York, 2011; Point/ Line/ Surface/ Solid, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow, 2011; No Noise, The Agency, London, 2011; Modal, Lilah Fowler & Dan Miller, Cartel, London, 2010.
