Dan Gunn
Region: Midwest
Born in Kansas and based in Chicago, I make work centered around
imagery from the American Midwest. Wood-paneled basements,
roadside memorabilia of the West, and agrarian symbols were the
norm when I was growing up. My work increasingly investigates
the ideological function of this imagery, both for political purposes
and for the formulation of male subjectivity. My drapery works,
the Scenery series, are made of pieces of plywood I have cut and
laced back together with cord. I photograph actual draped textiles
and modify the images in Photoshop. While flat, the works picture
dimensionality and, while whole, they exist in a multitude of parts.
As objects they mimic aprons, tablecloths, or quilts. The plywood
carries the sign of wood, historically associated with masculinity,
which Roland Barthes describes as a “poetic substance” that has
a “natural warmth to the touch.” But plywood is the least romantic
of woods, being a decidedly industrial product. Similarly, the
activity of making the draperies combines labor and technology,
challenging easy romanticization by the maker.
![](https://nap-master.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/bio_cover_img/public/Gunn_Headshot.jpg?Tjm0r57hKJWvqYEY_RYLRgsaTQnRHhth&itok=Ky5OTzEk)