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Deborah Dancy

  • Biography
  • Installation Body of Evidence
  • Works
  • Artist Talk Video
  • Press
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  • Deborah Dancy is a multi-media abstract artist, whose paintings, drawings, digital photography and sculptural objects examine and mine abstraction’s potential...
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    Deborah Dancy is a multi-media abstract artist, whose paintings, drawings, digital photography and sculptural objects examine and mine abstraction’s potential to move across mediums and materials exploring subtlety and confrontation. There is an undercurrent of nuance and tension that mark her work, as if something is poised to happen. Dancy’s gestural brushstrokes—what she calls “tangential entanglements” and “linear demarcations”—are characteristic of her engaging, disruptive style. Abutting shapes and colors are inserted to provoke and entice, yet disrupt. From densely painted fields to minimally suggested forms, Dancy’s work operates in the recognition that moments, meanderings, accidents and process operate best when beautiful and disconcerting are combined.  Her paintings, sensuous linear gestures glide across the surface until abruptly they collide with the unexpected.

     

    Dancy  embraces the natural ambiguity of abstraction. Although her works are inspired by her own emotions and experiences, they also allow viewers to contemplate their own relationships to her work. Dancy says, “I make abstract work because I am interested in its ability to operate in a realm in which beauty and tension simultaneously exist without explanation or narrative.” In her photography as well as her sculptures, one finds images,  cobbled bricolage of detritus, found and fabricated objects, playful yet pointed exist as simultaneously humorous and grotesque.  

     

     Deborah Dancy retired in 2017 as Professor Emeritus of art at the University of Connecticut where she was on the faculty in the Department of Art and Art History since 1981. She has received numerous significant honors and awards, including: a John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, New England Foundation for the Arts/NEA Individual Artist Grant, Nexus Press Artist Book Project Award, Visual Studies Artist Book Project Residency Grant, The American Antiquarian Society’s William Randolph Hearst Fellowship, a YADDO Fellow, Women’s Studio Workshop Residency Grant, Connecticut Commission of the Arts Artist Grant, as well as a Connecticut Book Award Illustration Nominee.

     

    In 2018 Dancy was included in the exhibition Magnetic Fields, organized by the Kemper Museum and traveled as well to the National Museum of Women in the Arts. Magnetic Fields places abstract works by multiple generations of black women artists in context with one another—and within the larger history of abstract art—for the first time, revealing the artists’ role as under-recognized leaders in abstraction. Dancy has exhibited nationally and internationally at museums and institutions such as The Fuller Museum, The Housatonic Museum, The Mattatuck Museum, The College of Saint Rose, The University of Rhode Island, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, The Spencer Museum, The Mead Art Museum, SACI Gallery, Florence, Italy, The US Embassy in Paris, and The DeCordova Museum. Her work is in numerous collections including: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, 21C Museum, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Birmingham Museum of Art, The Hunter Museum, The Detroit Institute of Art, The Montgomery Museum of Art, The Spencer Museum of Art, The Hunter Museum of Art, Vanderbilt University, Grinnell College, Oberlin College Museum of Art, Davidson Art Center, Wesleyan University, The Bellagio Hotel, and The United States Embassy in Cameroon.

     

  • Installation Images

    Body of Evidence April 30 - June 18, 2022
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  • Body of Evidence
    • Deborah Dancy new oil painting Marcia Wood Gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Blind Faith, 2022
      acrylic on canvas
      60 x 50 inches
    • Deborah Dancy new oil painting Marcia Wood Gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Evidence to the Contrary, 2021
      oil on canvas
      70 x 64 inches
    • deborah dancy oil painting body of evidence Marcia Wood Gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Body of Evidence, 2021
      oil on canvas
      70 x 64 inches
    • Deborah Dancy new oil painting Marcia Wood Gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Boundaries and Borders, 2022
      acrylic on canvas
      60 x 50 inches
    • Deborah Dancy new oil painting Marcia Wood Gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Departures, 2022
      oil on canvas
      66 x 60 inches
    • Deborah Dancy new oil painting Marcia Wood Gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      History Lesson, 2021
      oil on canvas
      70 x 64 inches
    • Deborah Dancy Reflections, 2021 oil on canvas 60 x 50 inches
      Deborah Dancy
      Reflections, 2021
      oil on canvas
      60 x 50 inches
    • Deborah Dancy new oil painting Marcia Wood Gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Sweet Dreams, 2021
      acrylic and oil on canvas
      70 x 64 inches
    • Deborah Dancy million black stars paper Marcia Wood Gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      The Weight of a Million Black Stars #15, 2020
      acrylic and black crushed stone on paper
      50 x 38 inches
    • Deborah Dancy the weight of a million black stars Marcia wood gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      The Weight of a Million Black Stars #3, 2020
      acrylic and black crushed stone on paper
      50 x 38 inches
    • Deborah Dancy The Weight of a Million Black Stars #9, 2020 acrylic and black crushed stone on paper 50 x 38 inches
      Deborah Dancy
      The Weight of a Million Black Stars #9, 2020
      acrylic and black crushed stone on paper
      50 x 38 inches
    • Deborah Dancy million black stars paper Marcia Wood Gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      The Weight of a Million Black Stars #11, 2020
      acrylic and black crushed stone on paper
      50 x 38 inches
    • Deborah Dancy painting on paper abstract Marcia Wood Gallery cipher body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Cipher 6, 2021
      acrylic on paper
      15 x 13.75 inches
    • Deborah Dancy painting on paper abstract Marcia Wood Gallery cipher body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Cipher 10, 2021
      acrylic on paper
      15 x 13.75 inches
    • Deborah Dancy painting on paper abstract Marcia Wood Gallery cipher body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Cipher 20, 2021
      acrylic on paper
      15 x 13.75 inches
    • Deborah Dancy painting on paper abstract Marcia Wood Gallery cipher body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Cipher 25, 2021
      acrylic on paper
      15 x 13.75 inches
    • Deborah Dancy painting on paper abstract Marcia Wood Gallery cipher body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Cipher 27, 2021
      acrylic on paper
      15 x 13.75 inches
    • Deborah Dancy painting on paper abstract Marcia Wood Gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Resistance #13, 2021
      acrylic on paper
      30 x 22 inches
    • Deborah Dancy cipher work on paper Marcia wood gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Cipher 5 , 2021
      acrylic on paper
      15 x 13.75 inches
    • Deborah Dancy Domestic Resistance, 2019-2022 antique platter, plates, crockery, silver plates, and pewter objects with transfer images and stencil silhouettes dimensions variable
      Deborah Dancy
      Domestic Resistance, 2019-2022
      antique platter, plates, crockery, silver plates, and pewter objects with transfer images and stencil silhouettes
      dimensions variable
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence domestic resistance silver object Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      In The Darkness of A House, 2019
      embossed text on dish
      8.5 x 8.5 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence domestic resistance silver object Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      One Box, 2021
      text embossed on silver plate
      8 x 11 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence domestic resistance silver object Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Vessel Friendship, 2019
      text embossed on silver plate
      8.75 x 12 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence domestic resistance glass object Marcia wood galleryh
      Deborah Dancy
      Black/White, 2019
      twin glass vases with etched
      text 6.75 inches high
    • Deborah Dancy She Will Jump, 2019 antique pitcher with transfer image text 9 inches high
      Deborah Dancy
      She Will Jump, 2019
      antique pitcher with transfer image
      text 9 inches high
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence domestic resistance plate object Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Ancestors 2, 2022
      antique featheredged platter, stencil silhouette
      11.5 x 14.5 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence domestic resistance plate object Marcia wood galleryh
      Deborah Dancy
      Slender Black Boy, 2022
      antique ironstone plate, stencil silhouette
      text 9.25 inches
    • deborah dancy domestic resistance body of evidence marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Capable , 2022
      antique feather edge ironstone plate with stenciled silhouette and text
      1 x 10 inches
    • Deborah Dancy Classic Black photograph Marcia Wood Gallery Body of Evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Classic Black 10, 2018
      Archival digital print
      image size: 20 x 15 inches
      paper size: 25 x 24 inches
      edition 1/4
    • Deborah Dancy Classic Black photograph Marcia Wood Gallery Body of Evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Classic Black 13, 2018
      Archival digital print
      image size: 20 x 16 inches
      paper size: 25 x 24 inches
      edition 1/4
    • Deborah Dancy classic black photograph Marcia wood gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Classic Black 14, 2018
      archival digital print
      image size: 20 x 16 inches
      paper size: 25 x 24 inches
      edition 1/4
    • Deborah Dancy classic black photograph Marcia wood gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Classic Black 16, 2018
      archival digital print
      image size: 20 x 16 inches
      paper size: 25 x 24 inches
      edition 1/4
    • Deborah Dancy classic black photograph Marcia wood gallery body of evidence
      Deborah Dancy
      Classic Black 18, 2018
      archival digital print
      image size: 20 x 16 inches
      paper size: 25 x 24 inches
      edition 1/4
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence the abridged currier and ives altered book Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Preface, 2021
      The Abridged Currier and Ives altered book, acrylic and glitter
      11 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence the abridged currier and ives altered book Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Colored Engravings for the People, 2021
      The Abridged Currier and Ives altered book, acrylic and glitter
      11 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence the abridged currier and ives altered book Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Clipper Nightingale, 2021
      The Abridge Currier and Ives altered book, acrylic
      9 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence the abridged currier and ives altered book Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Campfire, 2021
      The Abridged Currier and Ives altered book, acrylic and collage
      9 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches
    • Deborah Dancy body of evidence the abridged currier and ives altered book Marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Branding, 2021
      The Abridged Currier and Ives altered book, acrylic and cutaway collage
      11 7/8 x 9 7/8 inches
    • Deborah Dancy Currier and Ives Body of Evidence marcia wood gallery
      Deborah Dancy
      Catching a Trout, 2021
      The Abridged Currier and Ives altered book, acrylic
      9 7/8 x 11 7/8 inches
    Close
  • https://vimeo.com/708736712

    DEBORAH DANCY ARTIST TALK

    Body of Evidence | April 30 - June 18, 2022

     

     

  • Press

    • Review: Deborah Dancy in Arts ATL
      Press

      Review: Deborah Dancy in Arts ATL

      May 10, 2022
      Deborah Dancy: Body Of Evidence Review: Multifaceted Black artist Deborah Dancy delivers powerful sucker punch Deborah Dancy: Body of Evidence, at Marcia Wood Gallery through June 18, is an engaging...
    • Deborah Dancy in ArtPulse
      Press

      Deborah Dancy in ArtPulse

      'It's a constant struggle to keep the 'thingness' at bay': an interview with Deborah Dancy Although her art is thoroughly abstract, Deborah Dancy’s paintings, drawings, and works in other mediums...
    • Deborah Dancy in The Bottom Line
      Press

      Deborah Dancy in The Bottom Line

      June 26, 2013
      Currently on view until June 29 at Sears Peyton Gallery is a collection of luminescent paintings and drawings in the exhibition Deborah Dancy: Chasing the Light. The entire exhibition, including...
    • Deborah Dancy in The Paris Review
      Press

      Deborah Dancy in The Paris Review

      June 22, 2017
      The Bookness of Not-Books I once owned a hardback edition of Somerset Maugham’s The Moon and Sixpence that had served time at the top of a bedside pile; its cover...
    • Deborah Dancy in Two Coats of Paint
      Press

      Deborah Dancy in Two Coats of Paint

      June 1, 2013
      Triangular: Andrew Seto and Deborah Dancy Isoceles, equilateral, scalene, right, obtuse, acute and equilateral. The humble triangles that we all studied in geometry figure prominently in contemporary abstraction, particularly in...
  • Viewing Room

    Deborah Dancy: What Might Become

    curated by Melissa Messina

     

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