David Sheldon: OPenings

Exhibition Dates: may 21 - june 15 2024

Reception: ThursdaY, may 23, 5 - 8 pm

CLOSING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 4 - 6 PM

The Painting Center is pleased to present the exhibition Openings, featuring the work of David Sheldon in the Main Gallery and Project Room. The exhibition runs from May 21 - June 15, 2024, with an opening reception scheduled for Thursday, May 23rd.

With Openings, David Sheldon presents new paintings and sculpture, together in an installation exploring the connections between the body and inner psyche. Sheldon believes in the transformative nature of Art, that human-beings are inherently fractured, both individually and collectively, and that Art can be used as an instrument of change. His work is about the possibility of inner evolution - the growth of Consciousness and Being, becoming whole. The work, itself, becomes a ‘means to an end’ in that process.

Sheldon’s new paintings are a return to an approach he started over thirty years ago, using the act of painting as a means of opening and exploring the relationship between the inner psyche and the outer body. It is not so much ‘what’ Sheldon paints, but ‘how’ he paints. He works while attempting to be in what he calls a 'fully connected' inner state, dividing his inner-attention between his mind, body, and emotional center. He prefers to work large, as this enables him to bring his whole body into the process. Painting becomes a dance. Openings are created. Energy is released. Painting becomes a metaphysical event. Brutal, beautiful, ferocious, spiritual, psychological and mysterious, the creative process brings forth beings and half-beings, along with echoes of human suffering and unrest. The oil paint, itself, becomes the essential medium, both figuratively and literally. The key is remaining impartial to all manifestations. Being witness to one’s inner-manifestations without judgment. A sort of seance in paint.

Sheldon’s sculptural works build upon, and complement his work in painting in unexpected ways, the key difference being the experience of working with actual three-dimensional space, and using a much heavier material: steel. The works take on a more objective approach. Sheldon works with what he likes to call a ‘NASA aesthetic’, appropriating the forms and appearance of outer space exploration. So ‘space exploration’ in his sculpture joins the metaphysical ‘space explorations’ of his paintings. Currently, outer space exploration is based upon unsentimental, empirical evidence - discovering facts on a tangible level. However, there is something moving about a lonely planet, whose population is desperately seeking to know if there are other sentient life forms out there in the Cosmos. The artist, as Sheldon sees it, meets that predicament with a different approach, connecting with the metaphysical dimension, leaving openings, unresolved questions within the artwork. The resulting sculpture is a play between positive and negative space, between ‘being’ and ‘non-being.’ Rather than completed forms, it’s about the infinite possibilities of form, where empty space and possible forms converge. So, similar to the paintings, the sculptural works are more like an expressed ‘convergence point’ in space, than a fully realized object. The work is left open.

For more information on the artist, visit: https://www.sheldonstudioworks.com/.