Lisson Studio

Dexter Dalwood’s studio in Mexico City

In advance of his inaugural solo exhibition in the autumn, Dexter Dalwood discusses his move to Mexico City and his process of absorbing its rich history and culture into this recent series of paintings. “I do think that one has to follow the energy and enthusiasm,” he says of his experiences and friendships there. “It's a whole different world and context in terms of energy. I wanted change and I feel this is a very significant chapter for me.” Dalwood is included in Lisson Gallery's forthcoming group show, ‘Accordion Fields’ (23 February – 4 May 2024).

After an initial engagement at an artist’s residency in Mexico in 2017, Dalwood has returned to live, work and conduct research in the country, culminating first in an exhibition entitled ‘Esto No Me Pertenece’ (‘This Doesn’t Belong to Me’) at Museo Nacional de Arte (MUNAL) in 2021. 

The artist also discusses the developments in his figurative practice – from its inception in history, poetry, literature and music – to a recent focus on dates and numerical values denoting historical moments and how to bring them into the present. “It’s not that I'm interested in making paintings which are about nostalgia or emotional experience, but I am interested in the idea of how to make a painting which surprises me.”

Dexter Dalwood’s inaugural exhibition with Lisson Gallery, 'English Painting', represents a return to the artist’s homeland and to the subject of what it might mean to be an ‘English’ painter. From the distance of his Mexican studio, Dalwood has begun to re-consider his attachments with English art history and the culture of his youth, growing up in 1970s and ’80s Britain. The question of whether national identity can be determined or distilled through art is explored in this new group of paintings that consider the legacies of traditional genres, such as landscape or the lowlier practice of horse portraiture, all the way up to twentieth-century movements including the Bloomsbury Group and Pop Art.

Filmed by Alex Reider and Lab 101 in Mexico City, January 2024