EDUCATION

ACADEMIC

ARTIST IN

RESIDENCE

AWARDS

1946  Detroit, MI

 

 

1972   Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, M.F.A.

 

1970   Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME

 

1968   Oakland University, Rochester, MI, B.A.

 

 

2012   Professor Emeritus of Art, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA

 

1994 - 2012   Instructor of Art, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA

 

1980   Instructor of Art, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association,  Birmingham, MI

 

1973 -1978   Assistant . Professor of Art, Oakland Community College, Auburn Heights, MI

 

1972 -1975   Instructor of Art, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

 

 

 

2001   Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts, Newcastle, ME

 

1994   Riverside Arts Foundation, Riverside, CA

 

 

 

1975   Purchase Award, National Watercolor Society, 55th Annual Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA

 

1972  Purchase Award, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

My paintings evolve in a non-objective vein that allows me the freedom to explore images in both spontaneous and reductive approaches. I create art that exists as an autonomous reality, restoring order to a perceived chaos.  My work is a constant exploration of the abstract laws of color, reducing light to its color elements where I work on a variety of surfaces using mixed media.

 

Being conscious of the tension created by figure-ground relationships, I transcend marks in both painting and drawing. I search through the mystical and spiritual experiences that constantly affect my continued commitment to the process of painting.  Boundaries are pushed to pierce the veil of light on the surface where I create a mystical illusion of space.  I explore the qualities of inner luminosity in the image, continuing to push the physical artwork beyond the realm of the now.

 

Artists have traditionally been mark makers since the beginning of time. My drawings are about movement of color, line, the illusion of  space and the resolution of issues of space and classic figure- round relationships.  I try to transcend the mark but I am conscious of the tension created by figure ground relationships. I have always had an affinity for paper. Surface and textural qualities of paper offers a meditative experience.  In my drawings, ink, oil stick and graphite are utilized singularly or in a mixed media format where the media are applied to paper directly, spontaneously and intuitively.

 

The drawing marks are influenced by Japanese calligraphy, which I was introduced to in the late 1960’s while in Kyoto, Japan.  With the marks being direct, spontaneous and intuitive, the gesture I use is free and easy, with composition balanced and ever mindful of space, light and shadow.  These marks transcend their traditional use; often gaining a figurative quality that creates a bold, dynamic interplay either when viewed individually or in an installation format.

 

In terms of the 2015 installation format of the Wabi-Sabi Tango series, I continue to explore and search for resolution of issues of space and classic figure-ground relationships. By using the installation format, a symbiotic, lyrical dialogue between each component occurs. Each mark can be studied by the viewer individually or as a total installation with multiple drawings making the whole.  The intuitive, abstract marks appear three-dimensional, drawing the viewer into the installation more as a participant than an observer. With the gesture of the marks existing free and easy individually, I unify the composition of the installation using patterns and textures, which create a lyrical dialogue between each component.  The observer can read the symbolism of each mark or the total installation in diverse formats.  It is the clarity and boldness of the mark that enables the viewer this vision.

 

Naissance, the entitled 2014 series of paintings incorporate graphite elements drawn into acrylic on Mylar that go beyond traditional boundaries. The development of the images is intuitive using gestures with raw energy, balanced by a mindfulness of space, light and color. I carry on with the exploration of the mystical and spiritual experiences that affect my painting process.

 

The recent Mambo and Rumba series’ deal with large scale mixed media drawings on paper.  These works further investigate the visual illusion of three-dimensional space.  Sumi-e, sepia and colored ink grounds interact with washes, water soluble graphite and oil stick which reference the figure.

 

In a natural progression bringing two dimensional marks into a three-dimensional physical reality, I am currently making sculptures based on the Mambo and Rumba series’ of drawings.  The sculptural formats take my investigation of shape and space beyond the illusionary format of traditional drawing, allowing the marks to exist as their own identity; existing physically in space.  The drawings now become larger-than-life linear, organic, abstracted figurative sculptures of welded steel---drawings in space, drawings in steel.

 

 

David Einstein