Dead of Winter

The Hole is proud to present a luminous solo show of neons by Northwestern artist Dan Attoe. Come bask in the artificial glow of these six new beauties, produced and installed by our Tribeca neighbor Lite Brite Neon. For this exhibition Attoe revisits an important aspect of his oeuvre, the neon wall drawing. Known for painting immaculate and haunting miniature oil on canvas works of man and nature, Attoe nonetheless has always maintained active engagement with the medium of neon. I remember in 2008 showing a great neon work by him with Deitch Projects in Miami; "There is electricity in your head." The texts are always provocative non-sequiturs that set off the edge of the image paired with it. In this piece above, for example, we can ponder whether nature is telling Death they love his work, Death is complimenting nature on their work, or perhaps the artist is just reflexively repeating a phrase often overheard at art openings. The other works in the show are perhaps less literally lodged in the "Dead of Winter" however they capture that bleak and interminable holding pattern of humanity that counterintuitively occurs in the shortest month of the year, February. Seasonal Affective Disorder sufferers (aptly abbreviated as SAD) wander the snowy streets or most likely hide at home. "We knew this could happen." Everyone is miserable ("Tough shit Tiffany") and doomed like the melting snowman in the back gallery. Two illuminating ladies offer some light at the end of the winter tunnel, tho perhaps quixotically. One Lady Godiva in jeans shorts straddles what looks like a horse drawn by someone who has never seen a horse. The other is a pretty princess, insipidly offering "all the light in the universe." These works bring us back to the reason Attoe has maintained a relationship to neon which is its ability to connote both Las Vegas seduction and dive bar philosophy; we are drawn to the flame but it provides no comforting warmth.