Material Girl: the psychedelic, day-glo designs of art star Julia Dault
The Toronto-born mixed-media marvel Julia Dault is New York’s latest avant-garde phenomenon. Dault had her big break in 2012, when her work was shown as part of the New Museum’s Triennial. The art world was so bewitched by her dizzying designs that gallerists jockeyed to represent her and the Guggenheim held a dinner in her honour. Among the collectors who now own her work are the fashion mogul Joe Mimran, Wall Street bigwig J. Tomilson Hill and the British millionaire Charles Saatchi.
For her prints, Dault uses scraps of pleather, denim and sequined velour. She covers the fabric in acrylic paint, then scrapes away at the surfaces using rubber combs, doorknobs and squeegees, revealing submerged patterns. This month, the Power Plant mounts Dault’s first solo museum show, which includes a survey of her effervescent, day-glo paintings and textiles. The show also features two specially commissioned pieces made of Formica and Plexiglas. Dault builds each one on-site at the gallery, like sculptural performance art—they bend and shine, radiating a space-age lustre. Here, a few of Dault’s greatest hits.
ART
Color Me Badd
By Julia Dault
The Power Plant
Sept. 20 to Jan. 4
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- Dault partnered with the designer Jeremy Laing on a series of garments made from Italian milled silk for his spring 2014 collection.
- (Image: Jenna Marie Wakani and Anthea Simms)
- Jeremy Laing Collaboration, 2014
- Jeremy Laing Collaboration, 2014
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- A colourful acrylic painting provides the base. Dault covered it with a black oil overlay and used a silk-screening squeegee to create a design from the buried layers.
- (Image: courtesy Julia Dault/Jessica Bradley Ballery)
- <em>Big Bang,</em> 2013
- Big Bang, 2013
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- Built on-site over five hours at the New Museum, the sculpture combines Plexiglas and tambour, a material used in industrial window casings.
- (Image: courtesy Julia Dault/Jessica Bradley Ballery)
- <em>Untitled 19, 3:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m., February 4, 2012</em>
- Untitled 19, 3:00 p.m.–8:30 p.m., February 4, 2012
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- For this piece, Dault layered painted silk, grey cut-out fabric, a vinyl overlay and coloured paint, then removed patches of the top coat using a homemade rubber squeegee.
- (Image: courtesy Julia Dault/Jessica Bradley Ballery)
- <em>Rico Suave,</em> 2013
- Rico Suave, 2013
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- Dault painted a sheet of patterned silk white, then scraped away at the surface with a squeegee.
- (Image: courtesy Julia Dault/Jessica Bradley Ballery)
- <em>Friend-z,</em> 2012
- Friend-z, 2012
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[caption id="attachment_291865" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Images: Laing by Jenna Marie Wakani and Anthea Simms; Art Works courtesy Julia Dault/Jessica Bradley Gallery)[/caption]
The Toronto-born mixed-media marvel Julia Dault is New York’s latest avant-garde phenomenon. Dault had her big break in 2012, when her work was shown as part of the New Museum’s Triennial. The art world was so bewitched by her dizzying designs that gallerists jockeyed to represent her and the Guggenheim held a dinner in her honour. Among the collectors who now own her work are the fashion mogul Joe Mimran, Wall Street bigwig J. Tomilson Hill and the British millionaire Charles Saatchi.
For her prints, Dault uses scraps of pleather, denim and sequined velour. She covers the fabric in acrylic paint, then scrapes away at the surfaces using rubber combs, doorknobs and squeegees, revealing submerged patterns. This month, the Power Plant mounts Dault’s first solo museum show, which includes a survey of her effervescent, day-glo paintings and textiles. The show also features two specially commissioned pieces made of Formica and Plexiglas. Dault builds each one on-site at the gallery, like sculptural performance art—they bend and shine, radiating a space-age lustre. Here, a few of Dault’s greatest hits.
ART
Color Me Badd
By Julia Dault
The Power Plant
Sept. 20 to Jan. 4
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