Contributed by Riad Miah / Informed by early modernists such as Piet Mondrian, Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, and Stuart Davis, Dannielle Tegeder’s abstract paintings are in themselves traditional, painted with acrylic on stretched canvas. When displayed, however, their import extends beyond the canvas edges into wall paintings, immersive installations, and even musical collaborations, encouraging a searching and interactive viewing experience. Her solo show “Signals,” in Sharon, Connecticut, incorporates new elements into her visual vocabulary, including ladder mobiles, stained linen, and walnut panels, freshly drawing on other aspects of art history.
The linen and panels recall the craftsmanship of early woodworking, particularly inlay and decorative techniques. They also subtly connect to tapestry, a craft tradition that blends material and design. The geometric patterns embedded in the linen evokes needlepoint weaving, a craft historically associated with labor and materiality. Perhaps most intriguingly, the linen stains echo ancient hieroglyphic marks, which reflected their architectural environment. Further, the two ladder mobiles in the exhibition are vertical and stacked, paralleling the vertical structural orientation of hieroglyphics. The link to ancient practices is not coincidental. Tegeder’s earlier paintings similarly embraced and interacted with the architectural spaces they inhabited, establishing the distinctively immersive quality of her work.
With “Signals,” that quality has become even more pronounced. By combining allusions to ancient art, craft traditions, and modern abstraction, Tegeder’s new work suggests that the signals she is receiving and transmitting are as much about earlier civilizations as the present one. The geometry of Tegeder’s compositions merges seamlessly with the material, as, for instance, ancient Egyptian writing did. In turn, the paintings themselves seem to bleed out of their surfaces, as if fusing with their substrates. Thus, the lines and shapes on the canvas become something far denser than non-referential abstract forms. Tegeder’s well-honed approach reimagines the past in a way that enlivens art history without making it clunkily obvious. She offers viewers an opportunity to engage with abstraction not just as a visual language but also as a rich, evolving exploration that reaches across time.
“Dannielle Tegeder: Signals,” Standard Space, 147 Main Street, Sharon, CT. Through December 8, 2024.
About the Author: Artist and educator Riad Miah was born in Trinidad and Tobago and lives and works in New York City. He has exhibited with Equity Gallery, Lesley Heller Workspace, Rooster Gallery, and Sperone Westwater Gallery.
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