ART
David West |
Written 30 January |
Sunday 08 March, 11:00Galerie Impaire, 75010 [map]
Over the past 30 years, American artist David West has repeatedly found himself at the epicentre of a number of burgeoning underground music and art scenes; first in Chicago, then New York and San Francisco.
The late 1970’s and early 80’s particularly, were a time when the lines between art and music blurred, repercussions were damned and limitless exploration was encouraged. The culture of free expression characterized by the post-punk movement that West evolved in, can be seen clearly in his work. Psychedelia confronts the hard riffs of rock and roll to produce arresting imagery.
Throughout his career David West has been in dialogue with seminal figures in the art world such as William S. Burroughs, David Wojnarowicz, Karen Finley, Tony Oursler to name just a few yet he paints with a voice that is very much his own. He came to portraiture when he moved to San Francisco in the early 80’s and recorded in vivid ink and watercolor, the artists and musicians that moved in and out of his life. A recent monograph, DAVID WEST 1989-2001 beautifully showcases this intimate and singular world.
His work has appeared in Nuke, k48, DOUBLE, PAPER, JHON, NY Press, Seconds, Extra small, No Milk Today, Rouge Gorge and countless other publications. He has also created album cover art, lithographs and etchings and his work has also been exhibited in galleries in Europe and the United States.
