Dan Hernandez creates paintings that sit at the intersection of high culture and pop culture. From a distance, his pieces often appear to be loving tributes to classic works depicting religious architecture and ancient civilizations. But upon closer examination, one notices they owe just as much to modern artistic eras— the Atari-era, the Nintendo-era, the Genesis-era. The characters, locations and design all bear a striking resemblance to vintage video game icons.
From film to canvas
This unique amalgamation of elements has earned widespread acclaim for the artist and assistant professor at the University of Toledo's Department of Art. He is represented by the Kim Foster Gallery in New York, and his works have been shown around the country, including a new exhibit of his most recent work at the Secor Gallery beginning on September 3. He has twice earned the Ohio Arts Council's Excellency award, among other accolades. Not bad for a young artist who originally set out to become a photographer.
"When I got to the University, I realized that I really preferred the immediacy of working in a painter's language," Hernandez said in an interview with the Toledo City Paper. "There was something about being able to put a mark on a page or a canvas that I really found to be much more satisfying.”
His fascination with games extends much further back, however. "I grew up in the 80s with Atari and Colecovision and Nintendo and Super Nintendo," Hernandez said. "I grew up in that sort of gaming culture. In addition to the hours I spent playing outside, I spent a number of hours playing in front of the computer screen or television screen. So video games are certainly a big language that is part of the language I speak in the paintings."
Commonalities
He first began to notice echoes of video game art in his work during his graduate career. Hernandez found it fascinating how the two-dimensional arrangements created by Greek and Roman artists so closely resembled the language of vintage game design. From this observation, an artistic style was born.
"So in my mind, those two sort of utilize the same language pictorially. They have the same sort of picture device. And so, at a certain point I realized both of these things— and there are a number of different places where I see it— but both of these things have commonalities. And I like to work in a space that bridges these commonalities. I try to kind of make paintings that are neither painting nor video game. That exist in a kind of neither here nor there space."
And the response he’s gotten for finding that unique middle ground has been gratifying, Hernandez said. "To have somebody in a video game blog or magazine be as excited about the work as somebody in the arts-related field, it just confirms that the work is not overly one side or the other. That the balance that I'm looking for has been struck."
Works from his Genesis series will be on display at the Secor Gallery through October 1. Opening reception: 6-8pm, Thursday, September 3. Meet and Greet: 5-11pm, Thursday, September 17, during 3rd Thursday Art Loop. Weekly: 5-11pm, Tuesday-Saturday. Secor Gallery, 425 Jefferson Ave. 419-514-7496. thesecor.com
For more examples of Hernandez's work and a complete schedule of upcoming exhibitions, visit danhernandez.org
