David Downs's Page

Website

www.davidpauldowns.com

Relationship status

married

College / University

some college, mostly self-taught

Program

photography

Member type

Artist, Critic

If you're an artist, what kind of art do you make?

Drawing, Installation, Painting, Photography

I am...

I am a painter, photographer, illustrator, and musician living and working in Chicago, Illinois. I am also the head of sprocketbox.com, which is an online magazine I started to promote and review the contemporary art scene in Chicago.

About my artwork

Through the combination of careful photographic processes and experimental
painting, I am working toward a dialogue between order and chaos. I often use the
relationship between man (or man-made structures) and nature (how nature consumes
these structures with time) to create this conversation.
With camera in hand, I arrive upon places that exemplify the battle between
man, nature, and time. It may be an old burned airplane hangar that has now been
consumed by a swampy marsh, or maybe a ship graveyard by the shore where only
remnants of the vessels remain. All of these settings are a footprint left by man, one
that presides in deep contrast to its natural surroundings. After photographing the
discovery and uniting the canvas with the photographic image, I revert to my intuition
and begin to paint. Building with thick, mixed layers of soil, acrylic, iron, and oil paint, I
alternate between construction and deconstruction. I combine conflicting materials and
observe their reactions. Some materials are eaten away while others mix. Some are
pushed aside and some remain firm. These interactions give life to intricate textures
and mimic the relationships portrayed in the photograph. Order and chaos become
balance.
My current work grew from a combined love of photography and painting. I have
always been drawn to the clarity and directness of the black and white photograph. A
print made through traditional means has a way of feeling “true” in it’s representation of
a subject matter. However, a photograph only explains the outer half of the story.
Through painting, I can open the inner half. I can express how I was affected
personally. My work attempts to bring these conversational devices together in a bold
and organic way. As the viewer looks upon my work, they are challenged to see beyond
the image that is presented, and absorb it’s greater meaning.
You can see examples of my work at www.davidpauldowns.com.

Artists I like

Anselm Kiefer, Joel Peter Witkin, Robert Rauschenberg (sp?), Valery Koshliakov, Gabriela Morawetz

Interests

rock music, Neo-expressionism, cafe's, black and white photography, museums, galleries, contemporary art, alternative art spaces

What exhibitions are good at the moment?

Square Foot Show at The Galaxie in Chicago.

The centre of the artworld is

New York, my studio, nowhere and everywhere

My artreview.com URL:
http://www.artreview.com/profile/DavidDowns
You can use this URL in your email, on your website, or on your facebook profile.