Above
Above
Above
ArtistRichard L. Dana

Above

Date1995
MediumMixed media on canvas
Dimensions20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) Framed Size: 24 1/2 x 20 1/2 in. (62.2 x 52.1 cm)
Credit LineDC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Art Bank Collection
Object numberDCCAH2000.007
ClassificationsPaintings
Locations
  • Department of Energy & Environment (1200 First Street NE)
Description"Above" is one of twenty paintings from Richard Dana’s Dancers series. The paintings in the series are both an appreciation of the many types of dance there are and have been around the world, and a celebration of creativity. For this series the background of the painting is abstract and was created in as unpremeditated a way as possible. The artist next painted onto the background a “design” of some sort, such as bands of color, part of a tapestry or a geometrical abstraction. Then a dancer is painted. To the artist, the unpremeditated background and premeditated design together symbolize the essence of creativity. The artist must spend a lifetime perfecting skills but then, in the creative moment, “forget” these skills in order to bring forth heart, soul and emotions Dancers practice a dance’s steps over and over, but when they perform the dance they are not thinking about the steps; they are giving the steps heart, soul and emotion. The dancer in the painting is a representation of an Indian artist who is performing a traditional dance.
The Nearing Beyond
Richard L. Dana
1994
Light & Weight
Richard L. Dana
1994
Evocation
Richard L. Dana
1995
Lamentation
Richard L. Dana
1995
Noise/Silence
Richard L. Dana
2004
Coryphee
Richard L. Dana
1996
Zebu
Richard L. Dana
1996
Seraph
Richard L. Dana
1996
Oasis
Richard L. Dana
2012
Geographic Combustion
Richard L. Dana
2016
Wic Wac
Richard L. Dana
2016
Band Man
Dana Mozie
2009