A Panoramic View of Holes and Spires on the Pajarito Plateau

David Disko a firefighter in the late ’70s for BLM Northeastern Utah often transported to fire sites via helicopter, viewing the landscape from the air transformed his way of seeing the land revealing its larger form, emerged contours unseen from the ground, trees and rock becoming patterns of color and shadow. As an architect, he became acquainted with topographic maps, enjoying the way cartographers use color and line to convey specific information. GPS, satellite mapping and Google Earth interest him in new ways to view the world. Three of his Artworks at Art Santa Fe 2018, were awarded “Art Santa Fe
Selects”. Disko, a BFA, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, exhibited at Brownsville Museum of Fine Art’s 46th International Art Exhibition, TX; Harwood Art Center, Albuquerque, NM; Farmington Museum, Farmington, NM; Cloyde Snook Gallery at Adams State University, Alamosa, CO.
Disko says: “I depict landforms like an amalgam of a cartographer, architect and camouflage designer. My process takes apart the landscape re-assembling it, creating objects and images that tell a story, sometimes a personal experience I had at a particular place, others about light, the passage of time, or place depictions by legend or account. I combine information and disinformation concepts, form and the abstract quality of maps or aerial photography to describe places I know or want to know more about.
Three places in New Mexico, my home for 30 years, occupied my imagination: Archuleta Mesa, Mt. Taylor, and the Valles Caldera. Five elements are common in my work: background hue combining New Mexico colors, soil, and plants lightened by the sun; paint drips as north/south axis; grids tie the composition providing scale, objects’ proximity, and patterns; as in topographic maps, color differentiates elevation’s areas from others in several thousand foot increments, I use eight colors, my palette derives from a Himalaya’s map; I use contour lines to delineate changes in elevation and define areas in the
overall image, leaving lines to go their own way inside them, so portions of the images become fanciful doodle from a daydream… Satellites pass over the earth every day, ticking off rows of photographic images. I access to these images, selecting those that spark my interest, arranging them into pleasing patterns. Cross introduces a central negative space to the arrangements series. Could our destination marker be located there? If so what could we expect, a vortex, an alternate dimension, or just a place warmed by the sun and sheltered from the wind. Five Tribes speaks to our innate desire to affiliate with a
group, for reasons of basic survival, commerce or ideology. It also speaks to our tie to a place, one that we individuate from all others, even when our place is objectively the same as that of our neighbors.”

Contoured View of Holes and Spires Along the Pajarito Plateau. Version I. Graphite and Oil on Gator Board primed with Enamel on Wood. 43″ x 35″

Represented by Contemporary Art Projects USA, David Disko exhibited at Scope Art Fair 2018 and in 2019 at Art Wynwood and Scope NY. At Art Santa Fe 2019 as Invited Artist of Contemporary Art Projects USA, he presents two large wall installations, each set on a separated space of the booth. The first installation, entitled Arrangement, is composed by sixteen small paintings of diverse size made in graphite, enamel, and oil on canvas, covering a surface of 84.5 high and 86 wide inches, splinted and equipped with cleats for hanging. The vinyl bumpers on the back equalize the set away from the wall
with the width of the cleat… thus, the individual canvases sit flat. The second installation, entitled At the Edge of the Caldera, comprises two framed wall mounted contour works measuring 35 x 43 inches each.
It is important to note that the process of creation of a contour artwork is starting as a painting that is hand cut into specific pieces, then layered together to become a three-dimensional piece. In both installations, it is remarkable to admire the mastership and uniqueness of how Artist David Disko composes his paintings as fractions of a whole depicted landscape, either portrayed by several separated small artworks or created as a sole framed piece formed by a set of painted layers. These artworks will be of deep significance and impact for Art Collectors and viewers attending Santa Fe Art Fair.
We are pleased to announce that David Disco will present Views from the Sky solo show at Miami Dade College West Campus Art Gallery in Doral, Florida, in collaboration with Contemporary Art Projects USA.

For more information, http://www.artsantafe.com

About Contemporary Art Projects USA: Headquartered in Miami, Contemporary Art Projects USA is dedicated to nurturing new contemporary art by providing exhibition opportunities and resources for emerging artists and curators. Their mission is focused on promoting art appreciation within the international community, to inspire and assist with the process of the art collection, and to generate resources that support artists’ creative endeavors through art awareness, artist promotion, and art procurement.

They work with the best minds in the industry and share their experience and passion for marketing the arts, culture, and entertainment. From Biennials and gala auctions to exhibitions and major international art fairs, Contemporary Art Projects USA has the experience, innovation, and creativity to engage audiences through inspired campaigns.

For more information contact:
Contemporary Art Projects USA Tata Fernandez, Director
786-262-5886
info@contemporaryartprojectsusa.com                                                                                        www.contemporaryartprojectsusa.com