The Thrill is Gone: DELANO DUNN

Montague Contemporary is pleased to present The Thrill Is Gone, an exhibition of new works by Los Angeles–born artist Delano Dunn, on view from March 20 through April 24, 2025, at our New York location. An opening reception with the artist will be held on Thursday, March 20, 2025 from 6–8 PM.

Inspired by the blues standard “The Thrill Is Gone” (written by Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951 and immortalized by B.B. King in 1969), Dunn’s exhibition finds its origin in the song’s meditation on the end of relationships and the collapse of once-held ideals. “I listened to that song a lot as I came close to finishing up the work. It just seemed to be the right thing to hear,” Dunn explains. The exhibition comprises four distinct series that, while capable of standing on their own, together form a survey of different ways of losing.

Smile So We Can See You Clarence

In this series, Dunn examines the complexities of public persona and identity through the lens of political and cultural loss. Drawing inspiration from the contentious appointment of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court and the controversies surrounding his persona—“Like OJ Simpson, Thomas leaned into his ‘Blackness’ to guilt all white male congress to vote for him”—the works evoke grotesque figures reminiscent of British royalty and the outlandish nicknames accumulated over a lifetime. Here, the imagery becomes a powerful commentary on how personal and political narratives can be contorted, challenging viewers to reconsider accepted histories.

Originalism

This series interrogates the framework of legal and historical interpretation. Dunn explores the theory of originalism—the idea that constitutional texts should be understood solely as they were conceived at the time of their creation—and exposes the inherent contradictions of such an approach. By highlighting how revered figures are often sanitized in our cultural memory, he challenges the omission of critical context, reminding us that “presidents have owned slaves” and that historical texts, when stripped of nuance, can distort our understanding of the past.

There Was A Time

Revisiting themes from his earlier work No One Can Be This Tomorrow: The Ways of White Folks, Dunn’s final series meditates on the peril of unbridled optimism. These works contemplate the idea that hope, when left unchecked, can blind us to harsh realities—a notion that reflects a broader cultural narrative of loss and disillusionment. Through this series, Dunn questions whether a relentless, even naive, optimism might ultimately pave the way for further loss.

Collectively, these four series offer a “survey of different ways of losing”—from the disintegration of personal relationships and political ideals to the erasure and misinterpretation of historical truths. As Dunn asserts, “The Thrill Is Gone is the blues. It’s about the dangers of the past and how if past events are not looked at in the proper context of the events of the time they can have damaging effects on how we interpret the present.” In echoing L.P. Hartly’s sentiment that “the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there,” Dunn’s work serves as a poignant reminder of the need to critically reevaluate our inherited narratives.