Art of David Downs

Moving the Blog!

2010-02-13T13:29:00.001-06:00

I am moving my blog to my new website. Here it is: http://davidpauldowns.yolasite.com/blog.php Please check there for all new updates and conversations. Thanks!!

April Group Show

2010-02-09T10:04:00.000-06:00

For Immediate Release:

Las Manos Gallery

5220 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640
Tel: (773) 728-8910
Sat - Sun 12-5 or by appt.
Email: info@lasmanosgallery.com
www.lasmanosgallery.com

Representing local and international, established and emerging
contemporary artists.

April 2 - April 30 :
"The Evidence Against Us"
Local and international contemporary artists examine our affect on the
environment and the critical state of our planet. Through scientific,
political, and conceptual discourse, artists Doug Stapleton, Olivia
Petrides, Michael McGuire, Michelle Peterson-Albandoz, Mark
DeBernardi, David Paul Downs, and George Klauba tackle this subject in
their distinctive mediums.

Opening: April 2, from 6pm - 10pm

Future shows for 2009 through 2010

2009-11-09T16:10:00.003-06:00

My art work has recently gained some very welcome recognition this year and has thankfully been selling to a few collectors! I wanted to give an update on future shows I will be participating in this and next year. So here is what I have so far:

December 2009

Las Manos Gallery

5220 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 773-728-8910

2009 Retrospect featuring artists that are currently represented by the gallery.

Climate/Gallery

37-24 24TH STREET, SUITE 406 LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101

Die Zeit of Drawing OPENING RECEPTION • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2009 • 6 – 9PM

March 2010

Las Manos Gallery

5220 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 773-728-8910

Environmental Show

All shows will feature my artwork for the span of a month. I hope to see you at the openings!

Las Manos Gallery

2009-10-14T17:22:00.002-05:00

Just a fun announcement about the status of my work that was seen last month at Las Manos Gallery located in Andersonville of Chicago... The show went quite well, turning up many enthusiastic art enthusiasts. Las Manos always attracts a great crowd due to the impeccable taste of Michelle Peterson-Albandoz and the professional look of the gallery she runs. Well... it turns out that my work shall continue to be on display in the back half of the gallery due to the interest people have show in my work! A few pieces have sold so far, and I am working to bring in more. I will also be added to the website shortly.

I am also working on some new and secret work for the Las Manos March show for 2010. I am looking forward to expanding upon some of my techniques. Right now I am just experimenting with ideas, but I will hopefully have an update on my progress in the near future.

Just returned from my West-coast excursion!

2009-08-31T13:25:00.002-05:00

I just returned from an extensive drive through the Northwestern and Westcoast of the U.S. with hundreds of photos and a slight tan! Yes, my transparently white skin can brown a little as I get older and grow some melanine... The trip was amazing! Words can't express everything I saw and felt on this trip. The cities and natural sites, the mountains, the ocean, the forests... it's all too much! On my website, I have uploaded over 40 of the black and white shots, and will soon upload the color shots as well. Just go to http://artofdaviddowns.webs.com and click on photography. They are at the end of the photo groups right now, but I will soon edit them into separate pages. I am also planning a book of my photography that will talk about later.

September Art Shows

2009-08-31T13:20:00.002-05:00

Four paintings from the "Artifact" series will be featured in Las Manos Gallery (5220 N. Clark Street, Chicago, IL 60640) for the month of September! Reception is from 7pm-11pm Friday, September 11th 2009. (Free event)

"Armature" will appear in a group art show at Studio 7013 (7013 N Sheridan Rd., Chicago, IL 60626) for the month of September! Opening reception on September 11th 2009. ($5 admittance with live music and refreshments)

I'm so excited about both shows as they will introduce this series to Chicago, my home town. Both galleries attract a great crowd to their openings, and I know it will be a fun time!

Photography by David Paul Downs

2009-02-12T22:57:00.002-06:00

Photography is one of my favorite vehicles for artistic inspiration. Most of my paintings start from a photograph I've taken. The photographs in this set show a mixture of my color and black & white images as well as a mixture of the formats that I work in.

Artifact

2009-02-12T22:09:00.004-06:00

"Artifact" is my newest mixed-media series still in progress. Utilizing photography and textural mixed-media painting techniques, I am breathing new artistic life into the relics of our modern society. These places and things were left behind in our constant quest for reinvention and modernization. In the right context, these artifacts become beautiful, grandiose, and sometimes haunting.

Frozen Lake

2009-01-14T00:21:00.004-06:00

At 1 AM today, I headed a bit south by foot on the beaches of Lake Michigan. Having been frozen for the winter, and layered heavily with snow, the beach resembled the tundra of the Arctic. The sky was a bright orange fading to a bluish-black. My frozen fingers worked the controls of my camera to take these photos...

From Frozen Lake

The Myth (a new series)

2009-01-11T23:44:00.002-06:00

The Myth is a new series writen and drawn by myself with help from my editor Lydia Krupinski. Currently, several issues of the first story arc have been writen and I have begun pencilling out the first issue between writing. Here is a slide show of my progress. It will be updated every time I finish a step in the process.

Armature

2009-01-11T12:54:00.001-06:00

"Armature" is the newest piece in my recent series. It is a mixed-media piece from a photo of the left side of an arial lift near Chinatown in Chicago, Illinois. The image is transfered onto the canvas using a polymer mediun. The background is my signature painting style which combines soil and acrylic gesso. It measures 36" wide by 60" tall.

In The Works...

2008-12-18T23:18:00.000-06:00

I am finally working on a piece that I have been putting aside for some time now. The photo on this one comes from Chinatown, Chicago. I believe is a machine for lifting boats out of the river. It has a very interesting architecture to it that is both structured and a little abstracted as it is not a congruent trapezoid. Instead it is a parallelogram.Here are some images... I bare finished the gel transfer onto the canvas, and I have begun re-painting the photo in acrylic. First, I am blocking in all of the black shapes. Next, I will start on the grey shades and details. I try to cover as little of the actual photo as necessary.

Macro-leaves

2008-12-13T14:12:00.001-06:00

I've learned to look really close at everything. Things get interresting when you dive into them. A simple house plant can begin to look like something mysterious, or something larger.

Captain America Jr.

2008-12-13T13:24:00.000-06:00

This is a small mini-comic I recently completed for a client featuring a really cool kid she sits for as his favorite comic book character, Captain America.

Other websites:

2008-12-08T22:47:00.000-06:00

More of my work can be seen at www.daviddowns.sprocketbox.com.

Etsy

2008-12-08T22:32:00.000-06:00

If you like my artwork and would really like to see it hanging on your wall, try going to my Etsy page:

Etsy
Buy Handmade
davidpauldowns

The Hangar Series.

2008-12-08T21:47:00.000-06:00

This series of black & white photography was taken at an airplane hangar in Queens, New York. The airport burned down in the 1940's and has since been overgrown as a swampland.

Color of Nature...

2008-12-08T21:43:00.000-06:00

This is a series of color photographs I've taken.

Neo-expressionism.

2008-12-08T20:43:00.000-06:00

This is a loose series of paintings done in a neo-expressionist style. I have been working in this style for quite some time. A few of these paintings are from a recent series I have been working on this year that may or may not be completed in 2009.

Recent pencil drawing...

2008-11-17T00:25:00.000-06:00

My grandfather and have a rocky past. He and my grandmother raised me since I was about two. I drew this in pencil recently from an old photo of him and me swinging together when our relationship was better. This is how I try to think of him now.

My Art Blog!

2008-11-15T20:21:00.000-06:00

Welcome to my art blog. Here you can see some examples of my finished and unfinished works, sketches, and photos. I will update as often as I can. Please feel free to comment on any of the work you see. Thanks!