Verne Dawson, 1999, oil on canvas, 82 x 100 inches, © 1999, courtesy of Gavin Brown’s enterprise and the artist
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In his fanciful oil paintings, Verne Dawson creates timeless scenes that convey humanity’s relationship with the natural world. He portrays people in verdant landscapes, happily engaged in pastoral activities and pagan rituals. He depicts a tribal existence of alluring simplicity, in which humans follow the rhythms of nature. Dawson often refers to a distant past in which ancient humans worshipped nature and lived according to the seasons and other natural cycles.
In works such as “Massacre of the Little People by the Big People,” Dawson reminds us of the troubled environmental legacy that humanity must overcome to attain such a future. Dawson encourages us to move beyond this checkered past by reconnecting with the natural world and embracing our ancestors’ devotion to nature.