Danielle Julian Norton
Danielle Julian Norton, a visual artist working in multi-media installation, video, sculpture, and photography, has explored the role of the artist’s identity in a variety of complex projects. In this exhibition, her approach to portraiture examines the role of the artist, his/her identity, and the construction of meaning. These portraits are excavated from myths and narratives embedded both in a public cultural history and her own personal sense of myth.
In her stark black and white Portrait series, Norton has created a series of staged tableaux which feature her as the central character. The images play on traditional portraiture, with the artists averting her gaze from the viewer. The tableau is fantasy, yet, the questions behind the imagery is clear: who is the artist, and how does the artist reveal himself/herself. “These photographs draw on the form and character of historical photography… while questioning the position of the contemporary artist and the relentless pursuit to make art by staging and performing to expectations of them as artists.” (On Danielle Julian Norton, Bureau for Open Culture, 2012)
Danielle Julian Norton received a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Notre Dame, and BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, where she is now faculty. Her experience includes: The Ohio Arts Council Individual Creativity Grant 2005, 2010, and GCAC Dresden Germany cultural exchange. Her artist residencies include Headland Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center, Bemis Center, and Anderson Ranch. Group exhibitions include the Midwest Museum of American Art, San Angelo Museum of Fine Art, Columbus Museum of Art, Cynthia Reeves projects NH, Mana Contemporary, Art Market in San Francisco Art Fair, Spaces Gallery Cleveland. Solo exhibitions the Weston Art Gallery Cincinnati, Cynthia Reeves, New York, and has been reviewed in the Boston Globe, Sculpture Magazine, and commissions such as EXPRESS clothing and the MTV Movie Awards in LA.