File:Dike Blair Untitled 2016.jpg

Painting by Dike Blair, Untitled (Gouache, pastel and pencil on paper, 12" x 9", 2016). The image illustrates Dike Blair's longstanding body of small, illusionistic gouache paintings, which back to the early 1980s. These paintings largely focus on diaristic, scenes considered Americana, such as bedside set-ups, cigarette packs and ashtrays, soda cans, motels, lounges, lobbies, Las Vegas, Disneyland, or as in this case, cocktails. They combine careful attention to light, texture and detail with a romantic and ironic, often deadpan tone. This series of work has been publicly exhibited in prominent venues, discussed widely in national art and daily press publications, and collected by major art institutions.

Artist Dike Blair. Copyright held by the artist.

Dike Blair

Entire artwork

Yes

The image serves an informational and educational purpose as the primary means of illustrating a longstanding body of work in Dike Blair's career dating back to the early 1980s, after he shifted from abstract, formalist wall constructions, and began painting small, illusionistic gouache works. Over the four decades, these paintings have largely focused on diaristic, American scenes (bedside set-ups, cocktails, cigarette butt-littered ashtrays, soda cans, VHS tapes) and banal, transitory environments (motels, lounges, lobbies, Las Vegas, Disneyland). They combine deadpan realism, careful attention to light and texture, and a both romantic and ironic tone, while exploring themes involving including pleasure and boredom, escapism and transcendence. Because the article is about an artist and her work, the omission of the image would significantly limit a reader's understanding and ability to visualize a fundamental body of work, which brought him wide recognition from art journals, daily press publications, and museums. Blair's work of this type and this work in particular is discussed in the article and by prominent critics cited in the article.

There is no free equivalent of this or any other of this series by Dike Blair, so the image cannot be replaced by a free image.

The image will not affect the value of the original work or limit the copyright holder's rights or ability to distribute the original due to its low resolution and the general workings of the art market, which values the actual work of art. Because of the low resolution, illegal copies could not be made.