Joseph D'Uva is Keeping His Ducks in a Row

A first impression of Joseph D'Uv's images one sees that he leans toward pop culture, graphic design, immediacy of the image. It is backed up by his artist statement dealing with the same....My work is generated from notions of childhood, memory, Pop culture, consumerism, and Americana. Toys, games, and patterns pervade the images I create and are manifestations of both personal meanings and an aesthetic attraction...


D'uva's print includes three blue ducks (two to the left, and one set slightly off to the right) set upon a piece of children's lined writing paper.(Jeez, it is nice to see that people still make and use that stuff.) It is at first glance playful, but there are underlying symbols to be discovered. 


For one, the ducks are cute, stylized and their similarities are obvious. They roll along the lined paper as though they are a child's toy duckie floating in the bath water. But then it seems more like a lesson about scooting between the lines and keeping the ducks in order.  Could be an adult,  lessons-learned type theme there:) There is a leader and its followers. The pace the leader sets will ensure the followers continue behind him. 


Another consideration would allude to the ducks' stroll across board of a cheap carnival shooting range.There is cause then for them streak across the lines to escape being targets of the sharp-shooters. The bulls-eyes on their bodies would suggest this is so. 


So is D'Uva remembering an earlier time of his childhood? Visiting the shooting range at the county fair, combining it with toys and rubber duckie fetishes? It's not exactly clear, but they are pleasing to look at. Reviewing his website, D'Uva's other prints initially all have a sort  of child-like wonder, and happy, innocent color schemes.  It's only when we look a bit longer that we see underlying symbols of a boy's childhood, and the things that fascinate them, that one see D'Uva is blending old, coming of age and adult interests in pop culture and Americana. It will be interesting to watch how he develops an ever-evolving theme of simplicity, and meaning below the surface.