P·P·O·W is pleased to present an exhibition by Anton van Dalen, the artist’s first show with the gallery and first solo exhibition in eight years. Since 1972 Van Dalen has lived in the East Village, documenting the ever-changing culture of the neighborhood through paintings, drawings, prints, stencils, collage works and performances that captured the evolving history of the place.

Van Dalen, who grew up in Holland, was captivated by the vibrancy, violence and cultural diversity of his neighborhood. As a child Van Dalen was influenced by the European Masters from Rembrandt to Van Gogh, as well as contemporary artists like Saul Steinberg, who took as subject matter their quotidian surroundings. Drawing on their practice as a source of inspiration, Van Dalen took to the streets, documenting the people and landscapes that surrounded him, creating a body of work that reads as a social and cultural documentation of one of New York’s most dynamic neighborhoods.

Van Dalen’s depiction of a changed East Village is reflected in a shift in color palette, media and texture as well. Interested in mirroring what he describes as “the colors of our time,” his most recent body of work forgoes his black and white nightscapes in favor of a palette that mimics the light of flat screens, cell phones and computers. Despite this shift, much of the iconic imagery that has shaped Van Dalen’s formal vocabulary remains.  His works are peopled with rabbits and pigeons – symbols of nature that recall his early days in Holland – as well as cars and religious institutions that have formed the backdrop of his East Village works for decades.

Van Dalen will also exhibit, and perform, his work Avenue A Cut-Out Theatre, a portable model of his house, which he uses as a staging ground for telling the story of the evolution of the East Village. This one-man show incorporates a rotating selection of miniature cut outs and props that each contain a story about the neighborhood from the 1970s until the present.  This performance has traveled throughout the United States and Europe, and has been performed at The Drawing Center and the Museum of Modern Art.

The exhibition will be complimented by a solo booth, at ADAA’s The Art Show, of the artist’s 1970’s and early 80’s graphite drawings and stencils. Taken together, the two installations act as a retrospective of sorts for the East Village and, on a larger level, serve as a reflection of the changing nature of inner-city life.