Twenty-Six Nights In the Desert: New Paintings By David Niec

Exhibition Dates: October 16 - November 28, 2009

Opening Reception: Friday, October 16, 6-9pm

About the Show

Clearly David Niec’s purposes were different than those of Paul the Hermit or Anthony the Abbott, but it could be said he has something in common with the ascetics who inhabited the desert of Egypt 19 centuries ago.

Like Paul and Anthony, Niec surrendered a rather substantial chunk of life to the desertlands. He spent 26 nights in a barren place in New Mexico, working from sundown to sunup with his brushes, oils and a flashlight to mix his colors. His aim was to create a night by night document of the changing phases of the moon and the fall of its light on the landscape. Although Niec produced more than 30 pieces in his field study—there were nights when he was able to finish two plein air works before the sun rose again—he sees the collection of panels as parts of a single painting.

The paintings of 26 Nights In the Desert were produced under the aegis of LAND/ART, a nonprofit association of art and cultural organizations that has commissioned artists around the world to develop place-based art projects in New Mexico. The state has been an epicenter of important place-generated art at least since 1977 when Walter De Maria created his astounding, still-standing, desert “Lightning Field.”

– Dean Jensen