Private View Friday 1 May – 5 to 7pm.
Show ends Saturday May 30th.
For the month of May we are excited to be exhibiting selected works by artist David Smart.
All the works in this exhibition have a relationship with water.
In 2020, David began to develop an art practice from his home on Dartmoor. His responses to the surrounding landscape, field systems, meadows, reservoirs and woodlands capture experience – a sensation or mood – rather than anything representational. Moving to Plymouth in late 2024, his passion for the moor remains, but the landscape of the city and its watery surroundings have opened up new avenues for work. Muddy estuaries, maritime architecture and industrial remnants form part of an ever-expanding visual vocabulary.
David’s intuitive approach and personal language are both visually beautiful and intriguing. His abstract works use paper to deconstruct and simplify. A refined making process employs many principles and processes learnt as a designer, particularly the use of a grid to help define space and form. Compositions are controlled and employ subtle colour relationships. For the artist, the making is calming and leads to a deeper understanding of the things observed. They communicate an underlying passion for detail as well as environment.
David studied foundation at Bath Academy of Art and graphic design at Brighton Polytechnic. His impressive graphic design career has involved working with many renowned artists, musicians and writers. As Associate Professor of Graphic Communication at the University of Plymouth, he developed a number of art and design programmes and as Associate Head of School (Design) he has worked with students and academics in 3D design, illustration, digital art and technology and publishing.
