Now based mostly in London, David Surman was raised in a small coastal village in southwest England. The bucolic surroundings and entry to animals left an indelible influence on the artist, who plumbs his reminiscence and attracts on an unlimited array of artwork historic references in his work.
Surman’s most up-to-date physique of labor is on view in his solo exhibition at Rebecca Hossack Art Gallery. Compared to earlier collections, After the Flood is much less summary however equally gestural, as sweeping brushstrokes delineate a bull’s sinewed musculature or the curled mane of a bashful horse.
within the methods we venture our experiences and ideologies onto the pure world, Surman renders recognizable topics in a way that displays our tendency to ascribe human emotion and feeling to different species. “I like portray animals as a result of they short-circuit individuals’s interpretive routines and get them paint with out the self-consciousness they could deliver to summary portray,” he stated in a 2023 interview, including:
The creatures that I paint are caught up in our human drawback, which is the separation from the world brought on by consciousness. The way in which through which my animals take a look at the viewer intentionally units up a sense of depth, maybe troubled engagement, a sort of accusation or affection. However in each case, the creature possesses a hint or residue of aware company.
In “Previous Stew Head,” for instance, viewers encounter a deeply troubled fox greedy a limp fish in its jaws. The canine in “Bathers At Okay’gari” is equally anxious because it carries a younger pup beneath a brilliant blue sky.
After the Flood continues in London by means of March 29. Discover extra from the artist on his website and Instagram.
