November 2019 Residency
DENNIS BALK
“The inaugural artist in residence at Pernice was Dennis Balk.
Known for his rigorously conceptual and visually rich work, he integrates a broad knowledge of cultures, sciences and places.
His interest and versatility toward all kinds of media combined with his high understanding of art history make him the ideal visitor to the historic Sicilian property, the latest in his flourishing resume of past experiences and professional engagements ranging from New York to Bangkok.”
Dr. Cornelia Lauf
Biography
He was born in Kansas in 1950 and throughout his childhood was always attracted to the potential of visual culture. He kept the Milton Glaser/Dylan poster on his wall for many, many years. In the California Institute of Art he studied with the first generation of Conceptual Artists, which had a profound impact on him, though not in the way most commonly expected. Not attracted to the production of significant gallery artworks, rather, very passionate about the study of the entire cultural system, about how he made the manifesto a work of Art that could represent the contemporary attitude of his time, whose culture he perfectly reflected. In New York he was fortunate enough to be included in the group of American Fine Artists, which gave him a significant hand in achieving his goals as an artist. After staging a few shows in city theaters he began to feel drawn to the clashes by the politics of culture clashes, eventually choosing to move to the Middle East to continue his research, moving between several key cities of conflict, exhibiting work and lecturing at universities. He later worked in Bangkok, where he created and ran a graduate course at an international university for ten years. During his entire time in Bangkok he founded a fashion brand, the “Splinter Group.” a union of studio and gallery work with textile graphics and merchandise. Book and magazine production has been a constant occupation and source of inspiration. Currently in Richmond, Virginia (U.S.A.), he continues to work on widely jagged projects that include theatrical works, numerous books, and different museum-level Visual Arts events.
Artist Statement
“My experience as part of the “Pernice Residency Program” was a very productive time, in a place particularly suited to the forms of Visual Art.
The surrounding countryside ,the Sicilian landscape, were a perfect thematic environment for the work I intended to pursue.
Many years earlier I had long worked on the concept of a “raw” visual theme, original visual material, graphic gestures naturally inspired by places full of soul, of true authenticity, detached from social expectations of visual art, or at the limit, I attempted to move away from institutional expectations of acceptance.
Drawing and moving between the resources of the Sicilian countryside and the visual dynamism of Palermo, I felt able to take up again the visual quest that had begun so many years before.
The family and people who offered and organized my residency period supported and facilitated the goals I had chosen to achieve at Partridge at all times, which is very rare today…
That kind of support allowed for a very special atmosphere of real concentration that still lives in me today.”
D.B.
