I've always been fascinated by the perspectives of others especially when it comes to my hometown. Irish artist David Smith explores ambiguity both literally and figuratively through his haunting and abstracted oil paintings. Based in Hong Kong, Smith's images of modern society are purposely cropped to isolate the viewer into seeing expansive spaces in a different context.
With each painting, Smith indelibly marks the surface with
chemical treatments and washes to "disrupt, dissolve, shroud or partly
erase the paint surface." It is this crucial process that lends his work a
painterly aspect despite its photographic qualities. In relation to the urban
and natural environments he paints, it's clear that "changeable
environmental conditions like light, weather or pollution" are central to
his body of work. 'Buildings-Haze-Cross Harbour' (above) and 'Bridge-Low
Cloud-Dusk' (below) both help illustrate the relationship between the natural
and man-made with the consequences of one affecting the other through
distortions and sparse abstractions.
'Island-Hills-Rain' (above) and 'trees-lake-mist' (below) are poignant examples of Smith's simple composition. Offset with his minimal and desaturated colour palette, one cannot help but feel the desolation and Gothic Romanticism that is attached to modern society. If not for the deeply modernised and tragically monetised society, I will always find myself gawking at the Sublime nature of human greed...
Catch the last remaining days of the exhibition at the Amelia Johnson Contemporary before 9th May!
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David Smith | Greyscale
Until 9th May 2014
Amelia Johnson Contemporary
G/F, 6-10 Shin Hing Street, Central, Hong Kong
T +852 2548 2286
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