Previous Exhibition October 2006 - 7 May 2007
Paintings by John David
 |
Dots, Lines and Circle Play
"Taking white paper and colours a brush stroke happens playfully, spontaneously as an oute reflection of an inner movement. No thought, nobody is painting but rather an absence of someone is painting."
More Info about John David's painting |
An Interview with John David
Q: John David, are you trying to say something
with the paintings you are exhibiting here?
JD: When they were painted, there was certainly no
trying to. Usually the paintings just simply happened
out of either some kind of feeling or because there
was much peace and emptiness inside me. Something
wanted to express itself. I would take a piece of handmade
paper and acrilyic colours but then I would have
absolutely no idea nor intention about what was going to
come. Certainly there was no intention to say something
because I didn?t even know what was going to manifest
on the paper. All the paintings are totally spontaneous,
in-the-moment manifestation of colour on the paper.
So in that sense, I was not saying anything. However,
making a selection for this exhibition out of a larger
number, in a sense I am now trying to say something. It
was already there in the moment it was being painted
but not as any intellectual idea. Yes, I am trying to say
something, and the thing that I am trying to say is in a
way quite sophisticated, quite complicated, but it can
be made very simple. These paintings create an environment.
I would hope when you walked into the gallery
that you would start to feel something and what you
might feel would have to do with words like innocence,
playfulness, a bit kiddish, childish, naive and hopefully
you would be touched by a sense of joyfulness in the
paintings. The colour, the energy, the brush strokes
and so on, would make you understand that when they
were being painted there was a lot of joy and fun. I am
trying to say to people, you could absolutely paint these
paintings too, altough your paintings would be different.
Why not create more fun in your life? Why not
celebrate yourself by doing something, like painting?
In that sense, there is statement but it certainly was
not there when the paintings were being painted. The
whole intention to mount the exhibition is to create a
dialogue between myself and anybody who would come
to the exhibition.
Q: Could you say there is a spiritual dimension in
your paintings?
JD: The longer I spend on the spiritual journey, the more
it seems the spiritual life, is actually life itself. There
isn't a separation any more between my daily life and
spiritual life. Thirty years ago, when my spiritual path
became conscious there was a very distinct difference
between how I was in my ordinary life and how I was
in my so-called spiritual life. Gradually over time that
has changed. Now I am not making a distinction between
the two. I have chosen a life style which most
people would call a spiritual way of living. This is simply
my life. The paintings are coming out of that. In that
sense you could say all these paintings have a spiritual
dimension to them.
Q: Have your paintings changed since you have
been on this spiritual path?
JD: All the paintings in the exhibition have been painted
in the last two years. Twelve years ago I underwent
a profound spiritual transformation. Out of the
emptiness and peacefulness that I have been experiencing
since then, creativity wanted to express itself.
It emerged in these paintings. It might have expressed
in dance or music but my skill is painting. Previously
my paintings were being created more from the mind,
whereas now I would say these paintings are very little
from the mind. |
