'I am thrilled to present my new body of work “Art in Motion” at the Hyde Gallery.
Particularly as this wonderful gallery gives a chance for me to connect to my local audience and also offers me a rare opportunity to reveal the inspiration behind this exciting new “Mythology”series and say something of the working methods involved.
I set out to combine my two distinct styles of painting, the figurative dance pieces with the abstract colour paintings and I hope you will enjoy the results. I look forward to meeting you there.'
An exhibition of Light & Movement, Dance & Landscape
“Light moves across a Landscape like the Dancer moves through Space”
“I believe in painting and drawing as a vehicle for a poetic and evocative expression of the world, I want to create an art of richness, spontaneity, sensuality and style. My work focuses on the two great themes of art – the human body and landscape. It draws on many influences from nature to dance, photography, astronomy and music.”
David Cottingham is a London based artist who has developed a unique body of work on the themes of Dance and Landscape Abstraction in the media of Painting, Drawing and Sculpture. He graduated from St Martin's School of Art in London, where he studied with William Tucker, Phillip King RA and Sir Anthony Caro. His artwork ranges from landscape-influenced, abstract paintings to large figurative, dance-inspired works on canvas and sculpture in Clay and Bronze. He has exhibited internationally including New York, Chicago, London, Beirut and Rome. Commissions include work for Cartlidge Morland in the City of London and work is also held in various private collections worldwide. David is Hon Vice President of the Drawing Society of the Federation of British Artists.
“My paintings are abstracted improvisations on the two themes that most inspire me, the human body in motion and the spirit of place. The Abstract paintings are also journeys into new spaces and landscapes, creating something unpredictable, beyond the subject. I like the work to evolve its own life and meaning. The main aim being to uncover ever deeper inherent structures, forms and emotions in the initial idea by using the language of paint on canvas in a very spontaneous way, revealing unconscious worlds and possibilities.
'My Dance work has its roots in sculpture, which I originally studied. I apply the drawn or painted line with a free, layered approach, which creates its own unique forms and also mirrors the dancer’s movements. I have always loved observing the dancer, the single figure in motion and began to experiment by trying to capture something of the sensation of the dancer’s movement in space. This became a vehicle for me to express the real-time spontaneity and improvisation which is the essence Dance. I now continue to work on both strands of painting and sculpture simultaneously as I find they inform each other and grow together”.
