FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doug Wada
March 7-April 19, 2003
Literalist sensibility is theatrical because, to begin with, it is concerned with the actual circumstances in
which the beholder encounters literalist work... Whereas in previous art (what is to be had from the work
is located strictly within [it]," the experience of literalist art is of an object in a situation -
one that virtually by definition, includes the beholder." -Michael Fried, Art and Objecthood (1967)
Elizabeth Dee is pleased to announce an exhibition of new paintings by Doug Wada in the gallery at 545 West
20th Street. There will be an opening reception for the artist on Friday, March 7th, from 6 to 8 pm.
Doug Wada's paintings of mass-produced objects - trash cans, dumpsters, washing machines, waiting-room seats -
defy our expected perceptions of everyday items and spaces. The lucidly rendered yet buttery surfaces of
the paintings partake of both a trompe l'oeil illusionism and a sensuous abstraction. Hung at the height of the
actual objects depicted, they suggest real space by their installation and within the tightly framed
isolation of each image. Perplexing distortions occur within each painting, however, articulating a space that the
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