DAVID PALMER WALKABOUT (TALKABOUT)
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY BERGAMOT STATION ARTS CENTER 2525 MICHIGAN AVE., E-1 SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 P 310-453-0909 F 310-453-0908 www.williamturnergallery.com
DAVID PALMER: A FOREST OF SIGNS
With so many contemporary inheritors of Pop Art choosing to consign themselves uncritically to vernacular modalities, it comes as something of a shock to behold artwork that embraces the vernacular without becoming part of it. Maintaining the same contemplative near-distance that the original Pop artists did from the formal idioms and referential motifs of our everyday lives, David Palmer allows himself to muse upon the condition(s) of informational dissonance and overload that have only multiplied, exponentially, since Pop’s heyday and – perhaps defiantly – to compose visual coherencies out of those myriad idioms and motifs. Indeed, Palmer straddles not only the (dotted) line between the known and the invented, but the one between the visual and the conceptual – between what Duchamp called the “retinal” and what the artists (and theorists) he influenced call the “signal.” The pleasures are those of the spectacle, but the spectacle jazzes both eyeball and cerebrum. In his latest series, “Walkabout,” Palmer makes his approach that much more graspable. He relies as his conceptual touchstone on a cipher readily recognizable to anyone who spends much time on urban streets. The stylized, faceless figuroid frozen into a position of determined forward motion – nominally male, but genderless by usage – bespeaks the presence of the pedestrian amidst automobile traffic, cautioning traffic to provide right of way or beckoning to actual humans waiting to cross the street. Palmer plants this cipher – a meme for us and for himself – in the center of each painting, satisfying the egoistic need of all viewers to orient the world around us. Thus implicitly privileging our gaze with one of contemporary civilization’s truly universal ideograms, Palmer weaves a cacophony of shapes around and through this central shape – not all of them silhouettes, but all of them refined into a simplicity adequate for blending them into a greater whole. The shapes that envelope and penetrate the walking everyman come from the same parallel world of para-linguistic signifiers as the “man” itself. And in his non-“Walkabout” paintings (and in painting-like jigsaw assemblages the artist has fabricated out of linoleum)
Palmer allows these forms their own turn as protagonists. Elephants, plants, the head of Abraham Lincoln, speech balloons from comic strips, decorative pinwheels and wavy lines and arabesques, all these images cluster and clamor, overlap and interweave into a visual approximation of the informational din that now enmeshes our daily lives, actually and virtually. Palmer’s message may lie in what he says about contemporary life being info-fraught (and, by inference, substance-deficient). But his artistry lies in how he makes such infointensiveness seem to make sense. Almost unable to help himself, Palmer – not so long ago a figure painter adept at conjuring a sunny, suburban sort of surrealism, a kind of TwilightZone Edward Hopper – needs to render his elements lucidly and compose them elegantly. Would that all the undigested knowledge and banal information that buzzes through Palmer’s pictures actually buzzed through our lives with such grace and articulation! But we have become inured to the babble that engulfs us; the younger we are, in fact, the more we are able to surf our sea of signals – and the more dependent we are on that sea to bear us along. By clarifying that sea, by separating it, however temporarily and artificially, into its myriad components, Palmer re-focuses us on the sum of its parts and makes us that much more acutely aware of its ubiquitous presence and spectacular chaos. In making all that seem so attractive and exhilarating, of course, Palmer sends mixed messages; we cannot with any certainty read his work as condemnatory. But he is not simply exploiting our addiction, either; like Rosenquist, Lichtenstein, and others over the past half-century who have painted the visual racket of a consumer society, Palmer manifests not so much a lovehate relationship with the modern condition of image assault as an awe at its immensity and the thoroughness of its presence in our consciousness. If you can’t beat it, David Palmer muses, read it; after all, you’ve already joined it. Peter Frank April 2011 Los Angeles
Walkabout (#2), 2010, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 48” x 48”
Scale, 2010, acrylic and ink on wood, 48” x 60”
Walkabout (#1), 2010, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 48” x 48”
Aqaba (Detail)
You Are Here, 2010, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 92”
LOL, 2011, linoleum on wood, 24” x 36”
Talkabout (#1), 2010, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 46” x 60”
Walk (#4), 2011, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Elephant, 2011, acrylic and mixed media on canvas 70” x 92”
Luna Palpitation, acrylic on panel, 46 x 90
Walkabout (#2), 2010, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Walk (#3), 2011, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Walkabout (#1), 2010, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Walk (#5), 2011, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Walk (#6), 2011, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Walk (#7), 2011, acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 70” x 46”
Little Walk (#2), 2011, linoleum on wood, 17” x 12”
Little Walk (#1), 2011, linoleum on wood, 17” x 12”
Like, 2011, linoleum on wood, 36” x 36”
Samurai, 2009, linoleum and vinyl on wood, 48” x 36”
Oxygen, 2010, acrylic and ink on wood, 48” x 60”
DAVID PALMER born: 1955, Syracuse, NY lives and works in Los Angeles EDUCATION MFA, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1987. Painting BA, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1977. Painting SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2011
“walkabout (talkabout),” William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2007
“forever almost falling,” William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2004
“The Flatlands Series,” Gannon Gallery, Bismarck State College, Bismarck, ND
2003
“flatlands,” William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2001
“American Dreams; Paintings by David Palmer,” Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
“American Dreams,” Littman Gallery, Portland State University, Portland, OR
“David Palmer; Paintings,” Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
1993
“David Palmer, Paintings and Drawings,” Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990
“Life on the Edge of the Continent,” Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
1987
“Between Fiction and Memory: Pictures of a Lost Summer,” Student Union Gallery, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
“Paintings by David Palmer,” Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY
1986
“My Summer Vacation,” Wheeler Gallery, Amherst, MA
SELECTED TWO-PERSON and THREE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS 2005
“Pattern and Practice; William Tunberg, Ned Evans and David Palmer”
William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, three-person
2004
“David Palmer and Marina Day,” Lantana, Los Angeles, CA, two-person
2001
Grants Pass Museum of Art, Grants Pass, OR, two-person
2000
Mt. San Jacinto College, San Jacinto, CA, three-person
1989
Schwartz Cierlak Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, two-person
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2007
“Themes and Variations,”, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA. curator: Kristina Newhouse
2006
Bakersfield Museum of Art, Bakersfield, CA
2005
“Line and Color,” Mount Saint Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA. curator: Irina Costache
2003
“The Human Revealed,” West Valley Art Museum, Surprise, AZ
William Turner Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2002
“People in Context,” Maude Kerns Art Center, Eugene, OR
“Recent Acquisitions,” Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT
2001
“Autumn Group Show,” Strategic Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
“Mini Treasures,” Holter Museum of Art, Helena, MT, invitational
“Winter Exhibition,” Strategic Fine Art, Los Angeles, CA
2000
“Autobiography,” Appleton Art Center, Appleton, WI
1999
“Moving Towards the Millenium,” Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Barnsdall Art Park, Los
Angeles, CA
1998
“Vessels for the Journey,” Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
1996
“Statements ‘96,” Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994
“New Directions ‘94,” Barrett House Galleries, Poughkeepsie, NY
1992
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Sales and Rental Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
“New Views,” Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1991
“Wallworks,” L.A. Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
Vorpal Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1990
“L.A.C.E. 5th Annuale,” Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. curator:
James Luna
“Realism; A Contemporary Dialogue,” Soco Gallery, Napa, CA
1989
“Macro/Micro,” Helio Galleries, NYC
Schwartz Cierlak Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1988
“Wallworks,” L.A. Artcore, Los Angeles, CA
“National Small Works Exhibition,”Schoharie County Arts Council, Cobleskill, NY
Worcester Medical Center, Worcester, MA
1987
“Gala Gallery Exhibition,” Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY
Maris Gallery, Westfield State College, Westfield, MA
1986
“50th Annual Midyear Exhibition,” Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
“American Art Students,” Bogota and Medellin, Colombia
Hampden Gallery, Amherst, MA
1985
“Six at the Midway,” Student Union Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA
1984
Hampden Gallery, Amherst, MA
AWARDS and HONORS Residency. 18th Street Arts Complex, Santa Monica, CA. 2004-2007 Residency. The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH. March-April 1993 Finalist. Los Angeles County Museum of Art Portfolio Calendar Competition. 1991 Corporate Collectors Project. Western States Arts Federation. 1990
Honorarium. Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA. 1990 Artist’s Grant. Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Brooklyn, NY. 1989-1990 Top Award Winner. National Small Works Exhibition, Schoharie County Arts Council, Cobleskill, NY. 1988 Teaching Assistantship. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 1984-1987 ARTICLES ,REVIEWS, REPRODUCTIONS Beautyman, Mairi. “Update.” Interior Design (NYC), March 2003, p.30, color Temple, Georgia. “Dreams Inspire Artist’s Work.” Midland Reporter-Telegram (Midland, TX), October 7, 2001, Arts & Entertainment (section F), pp. 1&3, color The Oregonian (Portland, OR). June 1, 2001, Arts & Entertainment. p.28, color Willamette Week (Portland, OR), June 20, 2001, p.68, color “Two New Exhibits; Livezey, Palmer Open Exhibits at Holter.” The Independent Record (Helena, MT), January 5, 2001, Your Time section, cover and pp. 6-7, color Chronogram (New Paltz, NY). Front cover, color. January 2001, March 1999, July 1997, June 1996, May 1995 Knaff, Devorah L. “Not What They Appear to be at First Glance.” Press-Enterprise (Hemet-San Jacinto, CA), November 13, 2000, pp.A7 & A9 Cheryl Laridaen. “Autobiography.” Post-Crescent (Appleton, WI), June 4, 2000, p.7 Fox Cities Magazine (Appleton, WI), June 2000, p.9, color The Journal, The Ohio State University, Department of English (Columbus, OH). Front cover, color. Autumn 1999 “Continuum.” Omni Magazine (NYC). June 1992, p.78, color Cohn, Terri. Artweek (San Francisco, CA). April 29, 1989, p.7 Lummis, Suzanne. “The Art Juror’s Verdict Is In.” Downtown News (Los Angeles, CA). Dec. 26,1988, p.12 Churchill Wright, Peg. Schenectady Gazette (Schenectady, NY). May 19, 1988 Russell, Gloria. “Westfield Exhibit Reflects Intense Personal Feelings.” The Sunday Republican (Springfield, MA) April 12, 1987 Ruhl, Steven. “Remembrance of Things Past.” Amherst Bulletin (Amherst, MA). September 24, 1986, pp.17-18 Lipton, Leah. “Jovenes Pintores Estadounidenses.” Magazine Dominical (Bogota, Colombia). March 1986, color
WILLIAM TURNER GALLERY BERGAMOT STATION ARTS CENTER 2525 MICHIGAN AVE., E-1 SANTA MONICA, CA 90404 P 310-453-0909 F 310-453-0908 www.williamturnergallery.com