It might be impossible to find a more perfect pairing of space and art than Erin Dailey’s Abstractions at Play, currently on display at the Frank Lloyd Wright Rosenbaum House in Florence, Alabama. Both Dailey and Wright use stacks of clean lines and vacancy to evoke simplicity, while being master manipulators of space.
As indicated in its title, Dailey’s work immediately feels playful. She uses simple, stark lines and vivid, isolated colors to create paintings and mixed media works.
In Compositional Confetti (2024), Dailey spaces colored paper that is cut into various rectangles into uneven clusters. A waif of fuschia is coupled near a thicker sapphire strip. Elsewhere on the white sheet, ten rectangles of different colors are comprised beneath a deep, blue bar. The artist’s father sourced and made the frame using cypress, a wood found throughout the Rosenbaum House.
The Rosenbaum House itself exists as a work of art in its quaint Florence neighborhood. Built in 1939 for the Rosenbaum family in Wright’s Usonian style, the house was occupied until 1999 when it was donated to the city of Florence1. After extensive restoration, the house has been a museum since 2002. Alabama’s only Wright-designed house wisely doubles as an art gallery.
Dailey makes seamlessly uses of one of the home’s long, narrow hallways for Folding Planes in Perspective (2024). In this work, Dailey commissioned Tyler Young, a craftsman local to the area, to create a series of fourteen folded basswood panels connected by a strip of canvas, each painted a solid, rich color of the rainbow. During my visit, the tour guide admitted that Planes (2024) added a much needed pop of color when compared to the neutral wood tones found in the rest of the home.
Dailey frequently uses saturated primary colors one would expect in an elementary classroom. This is especially seen in Starship Harmony (2024), which consists of four squares each composed of colored shapes. This is not a coincidence. She cites the founder of kindergarten as an educational model, Friederich Froebel, as an influence, and includes an interactive set of blocks inspired by Froebel for viewers to assemble2. The blocks are on a table that also holds Dailey’s Sunshine Sequence (2024), a trifecta of Dailey’s signature designed squares, each featuring the same shade of canary yellow amongst other hues.
Dailey’s artwork and its placement complement Wright’s designs so well that it adds a layer of intimacy to the experience. As if one is visiting a friend’s home, instead of touring a museum. Blue Cadence (2024) feels kismet in what was once the Rosenbaum’s living room. A bright, blue frame holds a crisp, white surface on which Dailey places four equally sized squares. The background of each is a different shade of blue, and they all bring to mind windows. The bottom-right square features one thin, navy line that intersects with a slightly thicker and slightly brighter blue. In the bottom right, a thin red line gives way to a chunk of orange followed by a timid yellow strip on the bottom. This miniature sunrise sits on top of a pastel, blue background.
Dailey’s work is playful, yes. Her style and color schemes remind viewers of childhood. Yet it is also delicate and inquisitive. The Rosenbaum House serves as an exquisite and appropriate stage for her work.
[1] Florence Arts and Museums, “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Rosenbaum House,” Florence Arts and Museums, accessed November 27, 2024, https://www.florencealmuseums.com/home/rosenbaumhouse.
[2] Florence Arts and Museums, “Abstractions at Play: An Exhibit by Erin Dailey,” Florence Arts and Museums, accessed November 27, 2024, https://www.florencealmuseums.com/calendar/abstractions-at-play-an-exhibit-by-erin-dailey
