TLC tutor Dan Wilkinson has used his love of surrealism as the focal point for a group show channeling surreal feel. Drawing on the talents of friends, family and other contacts, Dan has curated an exhibition that looks at how his contemporaries are using surrealism in their work.

Earlier in the year news of the Melbourne Salvador Dali exhibition reached the ears of Dan and a family holiday was planned. At the same time he’d finished a show at Wellington’s Southern Cross bar, who were open to booking something else in the future. Surrealism was at the front of his mind so he set to organising a show that captured the feeling of surrealism somehow. Dan is a big fan of surrealism and impressionism, “ the energy and the concept in both are what I’m attracted to. I wanted to have a show with magic, vibe, spark, that summed up culture, the people, where we’re at and where we’re going”.

In sourcing artists he picked people who had influenced his own work, his wife Serena Maree, mum Lou Wilkinson, good mate Stefan Wahrlich and a friend from his student days, Dan Mills. “There was a definite sense of synchronicity in finding the other artists, I thought of Leon White and then he facebooked me”. People like Robin Va’auli and Doug Sehnert also came to mind. “They have an essence, & magic in their work”. One of the final additions, Jessie Watson, is an Aucklander and paints to communicate sound. His work showed up at the last minute, hand delivered by a friend who was flying down that day.

Dan. Stefan and Leon hung the show. They had a fair idea about the arrangement but let it flow as it happened. Dan says, “you need control over a show but you can’t impose too much, things do work out if you set the scene, you can’t stress”.

Dan’s own influences are varied. He takes a lot from the world around him, his physical environment, but also the local music scene is big on his radar. Bands like Spartacus R and Fat Freddy’s Drop are inspirational and Spartacus R used to play at the Cross so it’s nice to hang the work in that space. “Influence rolls around”.

For the last ten years Dan’s themes have been rhythm and flow, but this is definitely evolving. “I’m not creating a landscape like I used to, now I’m creating a dream world, a moment, like you might glimpse in the clouds or the ocean for a second and then it’s gone. McCahon talks about stripping back the landscape, he’s also about sound, capturing the feeling, but his work was about division, I‘m more interested in the emergence of cultures and coming together”.

Dan sees his personal style settling at the moment. “It was really reassuring seeing Salvador Dali, for the first ten years he was all over the place, he almost became an abstract artist, then settled to what worked for him. You have to keep reminding yourself that it’s a journey.”

Surreal Feel its Da Real Deal runs through November at The Southern Cross Bar on Abel Smith st. in Wellington.