Exhibition Statement

After Order, After Disorder presents a selection of Dylan Glynn’s paintings, works on paper, digital prints, and animated shorts. Glynn, whose practice is rooted in formal life drawing, has developed an ethereal style that captures a fantastical naiveté. Expansive landscapes are sparsely populated by serene, yet impassioned figures struggling to assert their selfhood. Boundaries between bodies and nature are blurred - the ribcage of a figure seamlessly mirrors the veins of a leaf. Lyrical movement, as well as the deft manipulation and layering of color, characterize the diverse array of works on view.

Presented alongside Glynn’s works are historical 19th-century photographs from DeGolyer Library’s special collections that evoke similar themes of nostalgia and yearning for a paradise lost. The swirling forms, flowers, and greenery of Glynn’s Utopia are reminiscent of the lush, perhaps tropical, landscape depicted in the 1898 colored photochrom. The 1860/70s stereographs demonstrate a fascination with dimension and movement beautifully paralleled in the crumpling, decaying plants and thrashing water of Glynn’s animated short, Sister Narcissa.

Both the early, experimental photographs and Glynn’s works emphasize nuanced relationships between new and traditional media. Distinct brushstrokes and watercolor washes in his digital works exemplify Glynn’s reverence for traditional mediums. These practices distance his work from the conventions of commercial animation and distinguish his fine art practice.

Emotive and rich in narration, this body of work expresses the artist’s quietly optimistic projections for the future, in which he envisions humanity’s return to a harmonious relationship with nature. Glynn posits the question: after fighting for rights through the rise and fall of technology, what will we remember? Will we remember the invisible, yet perceivable peace that was there all along?

Dylan Glynn was born in Toronto, where he currently resides. He studied animation at Sheridan College in Toronto and La Poudrière in Valence, France. Glynn’s work has appeared in Vice Magazine, BOOOOOOOM, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, and the Canadian Broadcasting Company and has been recognized by the Society of Illustrators, American Illustration and the World Illustration Awards.

Curated by Georgia Erger, Curatorial Fellow for the Hawn Gallery.