September 8 – October 28, 2023
Sargent’s Daughters is pleased to present Prism, an exhibition of work by Oakland-based artist Lauren Dare. The exhibition is Dare’s first with the gallery, as well as her solo debut. Working across a variety of media, including ink, acrylic and marker on both paper and wooden forms, Dare employs the simple mechanisms of color and line to create complex fields of refracted color.
The body of work on view was created by Dare at Creative Growth–the oldest and largest organization worldwide dedicated to advancing the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art. Dare has been practicing at Creative Growth for 11 years, and in that time has developed a sophisticated visual language, primarily in pen-and-ink drawings on paper. Using the whole range of motion in her hand and arm, Dare makes repeated marks on paper, filling each work to the edge. By layering unexpected combinations of colors and pigments and adjusting the angles of her lines, she develops dynamic compositions with a sense of atmosphere and depth.
For Dare, color is a driving force behind the work. While some compositions are muted, with subtle gradations between hues, others vibrate with contrast between highly saturated tones. The sculptural works advance this play of colors into three dimensions, allowing Dare to modulate her colors in real space, where they are also transformed by light and shadow. Taken as a whole, Dare’s practice offers an innovative, affective formalism that immerses viewers in her gestural, kaleidoscopic worldview.
Lauren Dare mixed media works on paper: L to R - crayon and acrylic print on paper, 2018; marker and acrylic pen on paper, 2023; market and pen on paper, 2022
Lauren Dare (b. 1977, Oakland, CA) has exhibited at institutions and galleries throughout the United States and internationally, including Nina Johnson Gallery (Miami, FL), Golestani Gallery (Dusseldorf, Germany), and the Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, CA). Dare has practiced with Creative Growth since 2011. This is her debut solo exhibition.