From Friday, June 20, to Saturday, July 19, the Denver arts community and beyond will be able to experience Dallago's work in a special exhibition called THIRST TRAPS at The Laboratory on Santa Fe.
Photorealistic paintings and sharp photographs offer bold yet fearless interpretations to society's ever-evolving obsession with inserting ourselves into every narrative. With a career in the film industry that spans four decades, Dallago's creative eye comes alive throughout each and every piece.
From snarky reinterpretations of classic TV characters to humorous imagery of political figures, Dallago invites viewers to take a closer look at his works, resembling media that doesn't exist in real life.
"When I was younger, I wanted to be an artist, writer and film producer," says Dallago. "I decided in my early 20s that I had to pick one because they are all demanding. I knew that art would be something that I would come back to at some point in my life."
After moving from the East Coast to West Coast, Dallago worked with stars such as Michelle Rodriguez, Don Cheadle and Paul Walker in multiple productions throughout the '90s and '00s. From working as a location manager to producing films like Blue Crush and Into the Blue, Dallago was hustling throughout the industry and his creative visions were thriving, with his start in painting taking place in 2017.
Once several film projects that Dallago worked on fell apart at the same time, the creative wanted a change of scenery and moved into his cousin's Boulder condo in 2019. While in the mountains, Dallago began to paint more, opened an art studio and eventually made the unexpected decision to move to the Centennial state. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country, Dallago began to solely focus on painting and moved to the Mile High City a few years later.
"Denver is a village," says Dallago. "It's a beautiful place and I like access to the outdoors. There's enough of an arts scene here that I feel challenged."
Known as a "snarky Norman Rockwell," Rick Dallago utilizes satirical elements in his creative works.
Rick Dallago
Founder and curator of The Lab Josh Berkowitz says that while he was asking artists about how they develop their voices during the second round, Dallago was the "best representation of what [they] look for." With the idea of "playful swagger" in mind, Berkowitz was excited to nail down Dallago for this year's exhibition.
"I love to be humbled by an exhibition [made] by Rick Dallago," says Berkowitz. "He's the sweetest guy ever and so confident. He never doubts himself, I've never seen it."
Opened in August 2022, The Lab combines both performance and visual arts under one studio-sized space for locals to engage in pieces that "stick out." Through his Doubt and Its Double show, Berkowitz wanted to introduce performance art to Denver.
"Performance art can be ridiculous, funny and obnoxious. If there's clown elements, then it balances out the intellectual stuff," says Berkowitz. "But it needs to be chopped up into something comedic, which Dallago is the exact representation of that."
Two more of Dallago's works that will be featured in the THIRST TRAPS exhibition.
The Lab on Santa Fe
The show featured Seving working on the spot and was described by the gallery as "where patterns and connections emerge organically." As Dallago gets ready to take over the space, Seving says that The Lab provides a platform for all creatives under the sun, like Dallago, and creates meaningful relationships with others.
"I really admire [Dallago] a lot. He's definitely a good fit for what The Lab does," says Seving. "He's got a lot of irreverent portraiture, satirical work, a little bit of shock value and a lot of skill."
With a self-taught background, Seving says that Dallago's work does not only have a "intuitive perspective," but it also draws viewers to take a closer look and have their own experience, which her work shares that same quality. Seving also says that The Lab fosters a "diverse group of people together" that share their work with each other and the public.
Dallago wants the public to not just walk away with a piece of art, but meaningful engagement and dialogue. He is always "blown away" when hearing about people's interpretation of his work, and viewers of this exhibition will certainly have much to talk about.
"I think that there's something about letting the work stand on its own. If you wrote a book, you'd want people to read it without reading the review first to tell them what's good or not," says Dallago. "You would want them to experience it on their own."
The Lab on Santa Fe at 840 Santa Fe Drive will host an opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, June 29, and an artist talk with Rick Dallago at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 19.
