painting Groucho’s duck
artist reception: 12.17.10, 5-7pm exhibition dates: 12.17.10 – 2.2.11 www.222shelbystreet.com
DAVID KEARNS
222
shelby street gallery
David Kearns, Gold Dream, 2009, Acrylic on Paper, 52'' x 53''
“Well, art is art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh… Now you tell me what you know.”
GROUCHO MARX
David Kearns, After the Conquest, 2010, Acrylic on Board, 50.5'' x 18''
David Kearns, Visit to the Ruins, 2010, Acrylic on Paper, 54.5'' x 53''
David Kearns, In My Collection, 2010, Acrylic on Paper, 90'' x 106''
David Kearns, On A Beach, 2009 Acrylic on Paper, 48'' x 53''
“Also been thinking about the ducks...As deadly serious as I take painting, I’ve always been interested in work that used humor, for its own sake as entertainment and also as a means to lower people’s guard and/or disarm certain ‘awful truths. There is the comedy cliché, I think attributed to the Marx Brothers, about the inherently funny quality of ducks, and even the word ‘duck’ itself.” David Kearns
Clockwise from the top left: David Kearns, Cactus, 2009, Acrylic on Board, 11.5'' x 10.5''; David Kearns, Duck, 2009, Acrylic on Board, 6.25’’ x 6’’; David Kearns, Back Alley, 2009, Acrylic on Board, 6.625’’ x 15’’; David Kearns, Boom Box, 2010, Acrylic on Plywood, 8.25’’ x 9.875’’
David Kearns, Among the Ruins, 2010, Acrylic on Paper, 36.5'' x 53''
David Kearns, Grotto, 2010, Acrylic on Paper, 41'' x 53''
Details
David Kearns, West Oakland, 2010, Acrylic on Paper, 39'' x 42''
“Imagination is the cartography of the mind.” SALMAN RUSHDIE David Kearns merges Pop through Cartoon with Expressionism through the brush stroke. His unique way of drawing is strikingly inventive and expressive. The way he arranges images in the picture plane is unconventional. It should not work but it does perhaps because of Kearns’ ability to paint. Recently a curator described Kearns’ technical grace with paint as, “he moves paint like Philip Guston. It is almost as if he can’t help himself, there is a luscious quality to his painting and a love for moving paint that comes through in every stroke.” Kearns is a prolific producer of painting and drawing. He received his a BA in Studio Art from Yale and a Masters of Fine Art from Johnson State College in Vermont. This exhibition of work was created while in residency at the Vermont Studio Center. Top to bottom: David Kearns, Pink Table, 2010, Acrylic on Board, 5’’ x 10’’; David Kearns, Wild and Crazy Guy, 2009, Acrylic on Board, 9.75’’ x 12.125’’; David Kearns, Caramel Tree, 2010, Acrylic on MDF Panel, 12’’ x 16’’
David Kearns, Bushwick (Summer 2009), 2009, Acrylic on Board, 10.25'' x 15.25''