Dan Attoe

The unique landscape paintings of Dan Attoe show us a world in which nature’s grandeur is despoiled by tiny human invaders who often seem oblivious to the awe-inspiring spectacles which surround them, and sometimes address bizarre, inane, or hedonistic phrases to no one in particular. A vast waterfall is ignored in favor of a hot tub in Hottub with Waterfall (2016); in Mountains with Skiers (2015), skiers disregard the peaks surrounding them to focus on their own frivolous thoughts; and in Surfers on Still Water (2014), two surfers float listlessly on their boards, heedless of the majestic sunset behind them. Attoe’s paintings underscore man’s sense of alienation in nature, heightened by humans’ preoccupation with the mundane trivia of our everyday lives, but his critique is both humorous and sympathetic. He is acutely sensitive to the anxieties and absurdities that shape so much of contemporary life and culture, as seen in his neon works like Go Easy (2020).