‘Past, Present and Slightly Off Centre’ is the name of a new art exhibition in Chilliwack and the title couldn’t be more fitting.
“Everything I do is a little bit strange, a little bit off. It’s a little bit different than everybody else,” said Chilliwack artist Dan Daulby.
His solo show is on display in the O’Connor Group Art Gallery at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre until Feb. 10.
Daulby’s work includes colourful robots, cartoonist paintings, and pieces depicting Japanese samurais, shoguns and rōnins. He sketches, draws, paints and creates sculpture, and uses everything from pens to an iPad.
‘Past, Present and Slightly Off Centre’ spans about 35 years, going back to when Daulby first found his style.
He has a background as a graphic designer, cartoonist, illustrator and photographer. He had his first solo show in Winnipeg in 1986 which featured airbrush renderings of rock stars and jazz musicians. But those pieces weren’t entirely his, he admitted.
“They were kind of mine, but not totally. They had an influence,” he said of his work in the 1986 show.
He said he came away from that first solo show quite happy, but at the same time realized he wanted to change his work and find his own style.
“I was doing what came natural, not what was more. I wanted something more and I had to find something on my own.”
He struggled with it for a few years. It wasn’t until about 1996 when things started to come together.
“My work is strong. It always has been,” he said. “Some artists don’t agree with the harsh black lines, but it’s a style I developed. It’s my own unique (style). It’s got its definite influences, but I wanted people to see just how strong my work is. I want to get that across in this show.”
He describes his style as “figurative abstract.”
There are influences of Picasso, van Gogh, and the Renaissance in Daulby’s work, plus pagan warriors, religion, lust and love.
He said his images are not bleak, even though subject matter might be, and there’s a lot of humour in his work with a bit of seriousness as well.
Daulby is known for using vibrant colours.
“It makes a depressing subject very different… I like that little bit of a shock value. But I also like the colour. It brings something to a room, it brings something to a person when they’re viewing it.”
This is his first solo show at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre and, for the first time, he’s able to see his work spread out over a large space.
There are some graphic pieces, so the show is recommended for those age 16 and up.
“It’s a fun, colourful show… with a couple of more explicit images,” he said.
‘Past, Present and Slightly Off Centre’ by Dan Daulby is at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre from Jan. 10 to Feb. 10. The opening reception is 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 13. Gallery hours are noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free.
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