John Dilg in ‘The Big Picture’ at Sikkema Jenkins & Co

John Dilg, 'A Religious Experience,' 2009 - 10, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 in.
John Dilg, ‘A Religious Experience,’ 2009 – 10, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 in.

John Dilg is no outsider artist (he’s an art professor at the University of Iowa) – though his pared down painting style may look unskilled it purges unnecessary details from his eerie, uninhabited landscapes.  Muted colors and hazy lines add to the ambiguity of this scene titled, ‘A Religious Experience.’   Monumental in theme but not size (at 11 x 14 inches, it’s a little larger than book size), Dilg invites personal interpretations as he evokes a cascade of water or mountain capped by cloud a la Moses on Mt Sinai. (‘The Big Picture,’ a group show of small-scale painting, is on view at Sikkema Jenkins & Co through July 27th.)

Published by

Merrily Kerr

Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education. For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine. Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)