This Is What You Liked Before | Dan Buettner

In this exhibition, Buettner continues his visual encyclopedia of micro-momentary comedy, meant to capture humor that is normally lost in cursory moments of life. By merging people, animals, identities, patterns, and objects, Buettner’s work relates visual inexpressible emotion that only exists in the plain of the painting.  Once the viewer leaves the painting, whatever effect that has been created is lost. Buettner’s work is meant to be humorous and insightful, playfully serious, and dreadfully beautiful.  

Artist Statement:

An artist’s work must be evolutionary, yet static. 

For many years my thought on the topic of personal expression stopped here: that whether you are a visual artist, a musician, or a writer, your goal is to create work that is familiar, yet fresh. While creating the art for this exhibition, I realized that reasoning extends to other areas of life. One’s purpose is to evolve, but evolution starts beyond the core. We offer people in our personal and professional circles a predictable version of ourselves with new interactions and content. Without it, there would be no natural continuity or links between interactions and experiences. In moments of evolution- getting to who we want to be, we are who we are. This exhibition is a furtherance of how I illuminate my art’s purpose in the world. The paintings here represent short moments of thought that cannot be grouped with one experience or another, but rather exist as vacuous links in the spaces between the experiences that create our identity. As small and forgettable as these moments are, when we get down inside them we can find a whole world of humor, insight, and beauty.

Gallery Hours: 

Rosalux Gallery hours are Saturday and Sunday from 12-4 PM or by appointment. 

The gallery is located at 315 West 48th Street in Minneapolis. Rosalux is free and open to the public. 

Image: 

Left- (Detail) Ronnie Has A Question For Every Fold In That Flamingo, 2023, 40” x 30” acrylic on canvas 

Right-  (Detail) Barbara Finally Got A Bird Feeder, 2023, 40” x 30” acrylic on canvas