April 5 - 28, 2018
ADA Gallery presented Conveyors, a solo show by artist Derek Larson. Larson’s combination of moving paintings, animations and prints were on view from Friday, April 6th through Saturday, April 28th, 2018.
Conveyors is an exhibit by Derek Larson which features a series of motorized paintings, screen prints and digital animations that highlight factory conditions, the decline of shopping malls and the golden age of American animation.
Larson’s paintings are motorized with conveyor belts and rollers to move in front of and behind shaped paintings. The canvases move like the background of a traditional animation and suggest factory automation through their hardware and stripped down construction.
Larson's animated series "Très Mall" is his first feature-length effort about three artists living in Savannah, Georgia. They encounter real-world writers in cameo appearances who discuss topics in activism, art, consumerism and the environment. The main character inherits a strip mall and his friends join in to witness a slow progression of misplaced ambitions and other hijinks. Accompanying the animation are Acrylic on dura-lar screen prints that mimic celluloid in traditional cel animations, acting as artifacts to Larson’s digitally made animation.
Larson’s animation Très Mall will also be screening in NYC Times Square via Chashama, at Jepson Center Telfair Museum in Savannah, GA October-April and at Morris Museum in Augusta, GA in September. Larson also participated in the MASS MoCA Residency May-June, 2018.
Derek G. Larson received his MFA from the Yale School of Art and has participated in a number of national and international exhibitions and residencies. His first feature-length animation "Très Mall" will screen this summer in Times Square New York City and in the fall at the Jepson Telfair Museum in Savannah and Morris Museum in Augusta. He will continue working on this project through the summer as a resident of the MASS MoCA Residency. His work has been featured in ARTPULSE, Rhizome.org, Big Red & Shiny, Gizmodo, The Seattle Times and New American Paintings. With prior experience as a video editor at PBS, Larson's work combines animation and video with painting and performance, his current work explores science fiction, autoimmune diseases and malls.
CONVEYORS also featured a room of silkscreens and his animation, Très Mall (see below)
some previous work
Standard: In Order To Create A Company LinkedIn Page,
metal, fabric, ink, acrylic on mirror plexi
49h x 36w x 4d in., 2016
Host: You Need To Upload Two Different Versions
robotic arm, computer, media player, metal, fabric, ink, acrylic on mirror plexi 49h x 37w x 7d in, 2016
Fw: Your Company's Email Domain Must Be Unique metal, fabric, ink, acrylic on mirror plexi
49h x 36w x 7d in, 2016
Static Void: All You Need To Attract Click-Throughs
robotic arm, computer, media player, metal, fabric, ink, acrylic on mirror plexi 50h x 34 1/4w x 7d in, 2016
-Arousal +Valence, acrylic, bleach, metal on fabric 46h x 22w in, 2016
Hopelessness acrylic, metal on fabric 40h x 36w in, 2016
+Arousal -Delight,
acrylic, plaster, metal, monitors, animation, media players on fabric 29h x 25w x 4d in, 2015
-Contentment +Low Arousal, acrylic, oil, animation, monitor, metal on fabric 56h x 38w x 4d in, 2016
Scorpius, digital print dimensions variable, 2016
John Denver Everything Is Fucked, digital print
dimensions variable, 2016
 Dog Jokes_XL copy.JPG)
Dog Jokes,
acrylic, plaster, animation, monitor, metal on canvas, 2015
Grape Ape,
acrylic, plaster, animation, monitor, metal on canvas, 2015
Wormwood Tea,
acrylic, oil on wood, felt, string, aluminum, projected animation 83h x 41w in, 2015