Pop-Up Exhibit at LAB ART Texas: Preston Pannek's "Pieces of Me"

Visual artist Preston Pannek is proud to showcase a new body of work in the form of nearly fifty paintings, ranging from one foot by one-foot to five-foot-by-four foot, some grouped together to create larger-than-life unified pieces. His debut solo show “Pieces of Me” will take place at LAB ART Texas in the Dallas Design District on Thursday, Dec. 10. The exciting one night pop-up exhibit will take place from 7 until 10 p.m. that evening and will feature paintings of all sizes on canvas using a mixture of spray paint, latex, acrylic, oil and enamel paint and texturized mud. Pannek, a musician turned artist, was inspired heavily by the abstract impressionist movement and pop art while creating this body of work. “Pieces of Me” is free to attend and open to the public. RSVPs are strongly encouraged and DJ Sergio Zuniga will be spinning throughout the evening during a live set that the Zuniga has created especially for this show. To RSVP for the pop-up exhibit, please email amber@culture-hype.com. Refreshments will be provided by Deep Eddy Vodka and Topo Chico. Within “Pieces of Me,” the artist has created three separate series, each exploring new mediums and processes. Pannek is manic in his creativity, often spending countless sleepless nights isolated working on his collection. By creatively binging for three to four month at a time, the artist takes a spark of inspiration to the extreme. Pannek, a former musician, places himself in an almost meditative mindset as he creates, emptying his mind completely as he pulls insight from the beat and rhythm of music. Each painting in “Pieces of Me” is sparked by its own song as the artist listens to it on repeat. With electronic beats fueling his work, he creates his own version of a scientific experiment, each song serving as a constant variable. This enables Pannek to stay in the same mindset from start to finish while working on a single piece. “I don’t want to change anything when I’m creating. If I walk away from a piece for even an hour, something has changed when I return. Music has always been a passion of mine, almost an obsession. I spent hours on end searching for the right song for each piece, searching for rare live performances that have the crowd’s energy built in,” said Pannek. “Creating is a relief to me, an emotional release.” Drawn to abstract expressionism and pop art, Pannek was motivated by Jackson Pollock’s erratic painting style, Pablo Picasso’s imaginative wonder, Andy Warhol’s vibrant and loud use of color and Mark Rosco’s ability to make the viewer feel something with just one color. Pannek also related to the Pollock’s strong personality and use of non-traditional methods, specifically painting directly from tubes of paint. Without formal training, Pannek started out feeling restricted as a painter, fixated on formal techniques and finding his own voice as an artist. As an ode to Pollock, the artist even painted his untitled series using just tubes of paint, no brushes. “Once I figured out that there are no rules to creating art, I started experimenting and everything just opened up. Now I feel like I can’t stop evolving,” said Pannek. “I want to be remembered. I don’t want to be a blip in history; I want to be a pioneer. My work will probably be my only legacy, and I want it to be a great one.” More info at http://www.prestonpannek.com/.