DARA GALLOPIN IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ARTIST OF SWISS-IRANIAN HERITAGE, BORN IN 1982 AND RAISED IN GENEVA, SWITZERLAND. HE HAS SPENT HIS ADULT YEARS LIVING IN DIVERSE LOCATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE, INCLUDING ENGLAND, CHINA, NEW YORK, AND THROUGHOUT WESTERN EUROPE, AND IS CURRENTLY BASED IN THE UKRAINE. THIS INNATE INTERCULTURALISM AND NOMADIC LIFE HAS IMBUED GALLOPIN WITH A DEEP APPRECIATION FOR DIVERSITY AND A BOUNDLESS APPROACH TO HIS PRACTICE.

GALLOPIN S MULTIDISCIPLINARY ART RANGES FROM GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT DRAWINGS INFLUENCED BY HIS FORMAL TRAINING AT L ECOLE CANTONALE D ART DE LAUSANNE (ECAL), WHERE HE GAINED HIS BFA, TO SCULPTURES SUCH AS HOVERBOARD (2009) AND NEVER GIVE UP (2010), AND MORE RECENT FIGURATIVE PAINTINGS. EACH PIECE IN HIS DIVERSE BODY OF WORK PROVIDES NARRATIVES THAT SPEAK TO A GROUNDED AND VERY HUMAN, VERY RECENT EXPERIENTIAL CONTINUUM OF MULTI-DIMENSIONAL GROWTH AND CREATION. GALLOPIN S CULTURAL IDENTITY IS THAT OF A MODERN NOMAD, WORKING INDISCRIMINATELY WITH ALL AND ANY TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES AVAILABLE, WORKING ACROSS DIVERSE MEDIA AND LIVING ACROSS BORDERS AND LANGUAGES.

THE DIVERSITY OF GALLOPIN S WORK, AND HIS PRACTICE, IS POWERFULLY DISTILLED IN HIS UNTITLED (TRIPTYCH) 2020, WHICH DEMONSTRATES THE MATURATION OF THIS CUMULATIVE AND INCLUSIVE PRACTICE AS HE INTEGRATES AND REVISITS BOTH PREVIOUSLY EXPLORED ELEMENTS AND PROCESSES. BY REFERENCING, SUBVERTING AND REIMAGINING HIS PAST WORKS HE GIVES RISE TO A LINEAGE THAT IS YET TO EMERGE. THESE WORKS FEATURE THE EXPLOSIVE SPLASHES PRODUCED FOR THE COLORED PENCIL ON PAPER UNTITLED (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013) NOW LIQUEFIED, AS IF EXTENDED FROM 2D TO 3D.

THE 2020 UNTITLED TRIPTYCH IS BASED AROUND IMAGINARY LANDSCAPES, WITH A RANGE OF SYMBOLS AS DIVERSE AS THE PROCESSES USED TO BRING IT TO LIFE. FOR THIS WORK, GALLOPIN CREATED A PLASTICINE MODEL OF AN UNDERWATER LANDSCAPE, WHICH WAS THEN CAST IN BRONZE AND USED AS THE BASIS OF AN AQUARIUM SCULPTURE. HE COMPARES THIS FORM TO “THE MAQUETTE OF THE DEATH STAR”. A 3D SCANNER WAS THEN USED TO CONVERT THE MAQUETTE INTO A VIRTUAL FORMAT, ALLOWING FOR DIGITAL MANIPULATION. THE RESULTING DIGITAL IMAGE WAS THE BASIS OF THE PAINTING. A SURREAL, YET DYNAMIC DEPICTION OF AN ISLAND AND UNDERWATER WORLD, THE COMPOSITION COMBINES ELEMENTS OF PHOTOGRAPHY, ETCHING AND DESIGN, DEMONSTRATING GALLOPIN S RICH AND ALL-INCLUSIVE STYLE.

“I M LIKE A SCUBA DIVER WHO DIVES INTO THE ABYSS OF MY SUBCONSCIOUS, ONE WHO GOES DIVING DEEP TO BRING UP PEARLS AND SHARE THEM WITH THE WORLD. IT S ABOUT SHARING, A MESSENGER BETWEEN WORLDS OR DIMENSIONS. A PROCESS THAT ENDS ONLY WHEN IT S PERCEIVED BY OTHER HUMANS. LIFE ONLY HAS VALUE IF SHARED. IF NOT, IT S JUST LIKE A DREAM. ART IS ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS, MULTI-LAYERED. I WANT THERE TO BE A WOW FACTOR, A STUNNING PHYSICALITY. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PIECE, YET INFUSED WITH MEANING AND NARRATIVE, ALLOWING THE VIEWER TO TAKE THEIR READING DEEPER IF THEY ARE SO INCLINED.”

THESE EXPLORATIONS EXPRESS GALLOPIN S COMPREHENSIVE AND DEMOCRATIC ATTITUDE. HE TAKES US ON A STARTLING RIDE AWAY FROM MODERN MINIMALISM, TO A CAREFUL YET FULL INCLUSIVITY. THE MESSAGE IS THAT ART SHOULD NOT DISCRIMINATE. ART SHOULD BE SOMETHING THAT UNIFIES.

“I M NOT ELITIST, IF YOU CAN T APPRECIATE A PIECE BECAUSE YOU RE NOT EDUCATED IN A SPECIFIC WAY THEN THAT S A WAY OF DISCRIMINATING. LIKE THE STARS THAT DELIGHT EVERYONE, FROM A CHILD TO PROVIDING A LIFETIME OF STUDY TO AN ASTROPHYSICIST. MY ART IS OPEN TO ALL.”

GALLOPIN S WORK IS AN OMNIPRESENT MOVEMENT FORWARD; A VISION OF A FUTURE THAT IS EXPANSIVE AND INCLUSIVE. IN LINE WITH THE PHILOSOPHY OF CONTINUAL PROGRESSION, EVOLUTION AND LEARNING, HIS MODERN, TECHNOLOGICALLY ASTUTE, YET EARTHY PRACTICE PUSHES A NEW INVESTIGATION INTO EXPRESSION, WHERE THE LINES BETWEEN FANTASY DREAM-STATES MIX WITH THE VIRTUAL, THE HUMAN, AND TRADITIONAL FIGURATIVE PAINTING.