POP STREET!

Daniel Militonian:

POP STREET!

“Not try to take life too seriously to where hardens you and that’s where you forget what joy is. You can’t have that either.”

- Daniel Militonian

Daniel Milition's work, which is a mixture of lightness, joy, cliché, kitsch approach, kidult tendency, and Pop Surrealism, reverses the weight of life and mitigates a burdensome life like a see-saw going up and down. Moreover, Daniel's perception of man and life is being expressed as a surreal fantasy simultaneously.

In Perspective, a voyeuristic gaze is substituted by the sun; you can see a hint of the work of surrealistic icon Salvador Dali, The Elephants in Find Your Soulmate; in Moon Dreams, the artist expresses how we are constantly moving towards positivity on a subconscious level as if the moon is feeding a fish. The artist suggests that you should choose to go toward light even in the dark and choose positivity and brightness as well.

“My Universe is Venice Beach. Venice Beach is very something. You could be anyone there, you could be anything there. No one’s going to care, no one’s going to even look at you. So If I had a universe, it’d be like that.”

Venice Beach in Militonian’s work is not an actual beach, but an everyday “objet” he paints. Venice beach is free with the ‘streets covered in graffiti’ — just like ‘POP STREET’ in the same context. It is about the space that’s filled with any kinds of drawing and no one really cares about each other, but joy and happiness coexist in such place. Through the work of art, the artist wants to deliver a message that we need to enjoy our life not only in a positive situation, but also in a dark reality.

Art that turns the bitterness of life around and consoles people

In Thanksgiving, drunken Pooh, Mickey Mouse, and Eeyore put their friend, Piglet on a dining table as if people serve turkey on Thanksgiving Day. The aged Disney characters reflect a bitterness in grown-ups’ reality while the eyeball on a bookshelf and bright colors bring a wit into the painting.

For the work, Try this, Militonian explains, “Mickey Mouse got fired and ended up in Venice Beach. Then he ran into another upcoming child star, Bart Simpson. Bart is a trouble maker. Mickey comes from an art background, he was the one that introduces Bart to graffiti. That’s why he’s handing him a spray can, so he can go and start a drawing, spray painting and doing his ‘Bart’ stuff. So that’s the motivation behind that one.” The artist talks about how Bart starts street art, graffiti and at the same time, he paints Disney characters as people in reality who age and get fired just like us, but keep on living, finding comforts in graffiti art. Mickey Mouse in Try this recommends graffiti art as a see-saw which upends a burdensome life.

Music that enlivens life, genuine art and cure for life

On the other hand, the work, Gone with the Wind — where the sun is burning and radiating heat and musical instruments fulfill themselves with music — expresses the dream of musicians with talent in Venice Beach who haven’t gotten a chance to bloom. And in Favorite Song, it depicts a woman being bathed in music and healed by it. Militonian, who believes that music is the most genuine form of art, often paints music in his work as a medium that enlivens life.

If you simplify your perspective on things, there are only positivity and negativity in life just like Militonian’s explanation on his work. The choice in life is yours to make, but the artist pursues a positive direction to enjoy life in the world that’s already filled with heaviness and difficulties and expresses such thing in his art.

Dali-esque, but different due to Pop surrealism

Militonian’s work, influenced by Salvador Dali, has a different texture from Dali's. Pop surrealism, surreal pop art, which is a homage to Dali, but while borrowing the elephant appeared in Dali’s work, the meaning of the elephant carrying an ancient obelisk, which represents Bernini's sculpture in Rome, absurdity that Dali wanted to imply is transformed into the fantasy of a man and woman who found a soulmate.

Dali's surrealism is in contrast to Militonian’s. His surrealism has grown into an adult’s perspective, but it is based on a warmth of kidult culture that has a childlike gaze.

Beautiful fantasy based on our reality

Daniel Militonian does not paint things in our fantasy or imagination, but rather the ones we face in our daily lives. Together with flamboyant colors and free expressions applied onto daily objects, he creates a beautiful fantasy.

For example, the images and facial expressions of the sun that always appear in Militonian’s art... animals, water, houses, kitchenware, flowers and trees, musical instruments, etc.… everyday materials are the main themes in his paintings. Nevertheless, his work fully evokes the feeling of unrealistic and adventurous fantasy that has imaginary wings. That is why Militonian's work is more fun and makes me feel better whenever I look at his work.

…...He believes that each object has a soul and energy in itself. He wishes us to pursue a joyful and happy life protected by liberty and safety. The sun appeared in his work represents the eyes of the creator of the universe.                                                                                   

 _Jae Yamaguchi

Militonian’s paintings describe a beautiful fantasy about life; his art is like the street art seeking out the true joy of life. He proposes ‘POP STREET!’ filled with vivid color of intense energy as if spontaneous souls cover street walls in graffiti.

Exhibition Title: Daniel Militonian : POP STREET!

Exhibition Venue: Helen & Jae Gallery of Seoul, 23, Palpan-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea 03054

Exhibition Dates_ May 27^th – July 3^rd, 2022

Opening Hours_11:00 AM - 6:00 PM (Closed on Mondays)

General Inquiries_ info@helenandjae.com / +82 2 722 0526