Exhibition Dates
May 24 through June 23, 2007

Opening Reception:
Thursday, May 24 6 p.m. – 8 p.m

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday, 11 p.m. - 6 p.m

Contact Information:
Natane Takeda, 212 560 9728 or info@essogallery.com

Jennifer Bacon and Filippo Fossati are pleased to announce the opening of Esso Gallery’s second solo exhibition by New Zealand based artist Julian Dashper, entitled The Abstract Office.

Dashper’s work focuses on the histories, theories and more general or popular ideas of abstraction (in particular abstract painting), conceptualism and minimalism as a working methodology. The geographical positioning of New Zealand globally and how this country receives and disseminates visual information is also a core subject in Dashper’s work. His practice manifests itself in various forms, including paintings, unique photographs of paintings, found objects which he infuses with abstract images, various multiples plus limited edition CD and 12” polycarbonate recordings of impromptu performances he has been involved with or heavily orchestrated.

"Dashper’s art is often about thinking about art, it encourages thought which is very useful, beautiful and underrated activity".—Mark Kirby.
Dashper often questions or examines the ideology of art. Future Call 1994 - 2006 and Untitled (C.V.) 1979- 2006 exhibited at Esso gallery in March 2006 are great examples. Future Call 1994 - 2006 is a work where he phoned the gallery repeatedly each day from his studio in Auckland which is literally in the future... a whole day ahead of New York. Untitled (C.V.) 1979- 2006 is his extensive resume exhibited as an artwork on the wall. The viewer’s imagination and visualization evoked by the works become the object, which is intangible, yet imprinted on one’s mind perpetually.

The show, The Abstract Office, presents a broader survey of his work dating from 1992- 2007. Consisting of sculptures and paintings from the last 15 years this new exhibition will present for the very first time Dashper’s work in depth to a New York audience.

Julian Dashper was born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1960. He lives in Auckland and travels regularly. He has been exhibiting regularly throughout New Zealand since 1980, Australia and Europe since 1992 and across America since 2001. In 2001 Dashper was based as an artist in residence at the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas funded by a senior Fulbright fellowship. Dashper’s work from the last 25 years has just been the subject of a major touring retrospective in the midwest of America, curated by Christopher Cook and David Raskin. Dashper is represented in all the major public collections in New Zealand, the MCA in Sydney; the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst in Aachen, Germany; the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery in Lincoln, Nebraska; the Ulrich Museum of Art in Wichita, Kansas and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.