David Abecassis 'Blue Flower'
Drawer 1- Blue Flower, monoprint on paper, 11 x 9.5 in., 2020
Artist Statement
What interests me is memory and how it contributes to who we are. But I’m not willing to deal with just my own. A juxtaposition happens when working through my own lived and ‘inherited’ experience while attempting to work through a collective memory within the creative process. Imagery from two different sources are collapsed into each other in my attempt to create something new and relevant. I think our visual memory is conditioned by the quality of image technology available from a particular time. It could be the first photography from the 1800’s, color photos from the 1970’s etc. I usually work paintings from a physical collage which continually changes as the paintings evolve. Our stories act as a focal point from which to look forward. I want the viewer to connect the images represented to one of their own memories if at all possible. This space is where the private and public may converge. Hopefully the emotions solicited from looking can repair some discord or fissure; so something broken may be repaired. I think if we are the same or if we are different. Well yes… While we may be different in our lived experience, we are somehow… the same. I try to pull out common threads and weave them into commentary on life’s musings and tragedies.
Artist Bio
David Abecassis completed undergraduate study in visual art at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. He went on to a fifth year of study in Florence, Italy in studio and art history, before receiving his MFA at York University. He works in New York. He has taught art and shown independently and with artist collectives in galleries and artist run spaces. Past exhibitions include, Mercer Union Gallery in Toronto Canada, Field Projects Gallery in New York, the New York Armory, the Bronx River Art Center and The Painting Center in New York. His painting continues to revolve around the social aspects of identity and memory.
Drawer 1- Blue Flower, monoprint on paper, 11 x 9.5 in., 2020
Artist Statement
What interests me is memory and how it contributes to who we are. But I’m not willing to deal with just my own. A juxtaposition happens when working through my own lived and ‘inherited’ experience while attempting to work through a collective memory within the creative process. Imagery from two different sources are collapsed into each other in my attempt to create something new and relevant. I think our visual memory is conditioned by the quality of image technology available from a particular time. It could be the first photography from the 1800’s, color photos from the 1970’s etc. I usually work paintings from a physical collage which continually changes as the paintings evolve. Our stories act as a focal point from which to look forward. I want the viewer to connect the images represented to one of their own memories if at all possible. This space is where the private and public may converge. Hopefully the emotions solicited from looking can repair some discord or fissure; so something broken may be repaired. I think if we are the same or if we are different. Well yes… While we may be different in our lived experience, we are somehow… the same. I try to pull out common threads and weave them into commentary on life’s musings and tragedies.
Artist Bio
David Abecassis completed undergraduate study in visual art at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. He went on to a fifth year of study in Florence, Italy in studio and art history, before receiving his MFA at York University. He works in New York. He has taught art and shown independently and with artist collectives in galleries and artist run spaces. Past exhibitions include, Mercer Union Gallery in Toronto Canada, Field Projects Gallery in New York, the New York Armory, the Bronx River Art Center and The Painting Center in New York. His painting continues to revolve around the social aspects of identity and memory.
Drawer 1- Blue Flower, monoprint on paper, 11 x 9.5 in., 2020
Artist Statement
What interests me is memory and how it contributes to who we are. But I’m not willing to deal with just my own. A juxtaposition happens when working through my own lived and ‘inherited’ experience while attempting to work through a collective memory within the creative process. Imagery from two different sources are collapsed into each other in my attempt to create something new and relevant. I think our visual memory is conditioned by the quality of image technology available from a particular time. It could be the first photography from the 1800’s, color photos from the 1970’s etc. I usually work paintings from a physical collage which continually changes as the paintings evolve. Our stories act as a focal point from which to look forward. I want the viewer to connect the images represented to one of their own memories if at all possible. This space is where the private and public may converge. Hopefully the emotions solicited from looking can repair some discord or fissure; so something broken may be repaired. I think if we are the same or if we are different. Well yes… While we may be different in our lived experience, we are somehow… the same. I try to pull out common threads and weave them into commentary on life’s musings and tragedies.
Artist Bio
David Abecassis completed undergraduate study in visual art at the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto, Canada. He went on to a fifth year of study in Florence, Italy in studio and art history, before receiving his MFA at York University. He works in New York. He has taught art and shown independently and with artist collectives in galleries and artist run spaces. Past exhibitions include, Mercer Union Gallery in Toronto Canada, Field Projects Gallery in New York, the New York Armory, the Bronx River Art Center and The Painting Center in New York. His painting continues to revolve around the social aspects of identity and memory.