Breon Dunigan Brings the Inanimate to Life
ARTISTS
‘Trophy head’ sculptures that examine people’s attachment to objects
BY SUSANNAH ELISABETH FULCHER SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
SOURCE: PROVINCETOWN INDEPENDENT
The School House Gallery : Work by Breon Dunigan On view through September 26, 2021
In her Truro home, the sculptor Breon Dunigan bends to calm her lively puppy while four of her majestic horned “trophy heads” observe the scene silently from above. “Much of my work is about taking something that has had a life and giving it another new life,” she says.
The animalistic sculptures are a new twist on a body of work she has been doing for years. A selection of Dunigan’s “trophy heads” — alongside works by Mark Adams, Stephanie Sassoon, Vicky Tomayko, and Rebecca Doughty — will be on view at Provincetown’s Schoolhouse Gallery in a show opening this Friday, Sept. 3.
“It brings me great joy to work with Breon for so many reasons, personal to professional,” says gallerist Mike Carroll. “There is particular satisfaction in presenting work by a woman artist who employs mastery, accuracy, humor, and reference to make moments in material culture that are unexpected and beautiful.”
Dunigan has lived full time on the Outer Cape for the past 26 years. In 2005, she and her husband, Bob Bailey, also a sculptor, founded the gallery artSTRAND with eight other artists. Since artSTRAND disbanded in 2016, Dunigan has been active at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, where she is on the exhibitions committee and curates shows. “It’s always exciting to get more intimate with an artist and their process,” she says.
Leon is a sculpture by Breon Dunigan. It is made from an old shirt that belonged to Dunigan’s mother. (Photo courtesy Schoolhouse Gallery)
