Art Reception: Dan Rous

For most of my life, I took pictures of everything I saw until portraits became my primary focus. Covid brought that to a sudden halt. Like all of us, I entered isolation. What now?

Determined to find a way to recreate the pleasure of capturing the spirits of my human subjects, I found myself drawn to the forms, textures, colors and even the personalities of apparently inanimate objects like bottles, tools, kitchenware and especially toys. These objects, having taken up residence in my studio, became familiar friends. As my collection grew over months and years, their unique personalities continued to emerge as each made the case for how, and with whom they wished to be photographed, sometimes auditioning for repeat roles.

In addition to my photography, I worked as a collagist in paper and fabric. So it was probably inevitable that, over time, objects from my photographic collection crept their way into my latest assemblages, enriching them while posing the challenge of how to combine two and three-dimensional elements.

This exhibition is the result of the joyous, puzzling, sometimes hilarious collaboration between me and my willing subjects.

Bio

Dan has been a photographer, artist, opera singer, cantor and teacher. Possessed from a young age with a keen interest in making and studying art, Dan majored in Art History at Columbia University. He holds a Master’s degree from Columbia Teacher’s College and a diploma of hazzan from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Fortunately, none of that dampened Dan’s love of play. In all his varied work experiences, his desire to create has been at the core.