Ian Davenport: Sequence
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Kasmin is delighted to present an exhibition of new works by Ian Davenport (b. 1966), on view from November 20, 2020–January 9, 2021, at 509 West 27th Street. Sequence brings together large-scale paintings spanning two series, several of which have been made by the artist in his studio in London, UK, during the months of lockdown.
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Davenport’s meticulous experiments in color sequencing involve remixing palettes inspired by historic works of art and recollected from personal memories of heightened pictorial experience, such as walking through a bluebell forest in Kent, England. Playing with repetition, mirroring, inversion, balance, symmetry and asymmetry, the works engage in simultaneous investigations into color theory, optics, and the paradox between control and chance.
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The artist’s signature technique—pouring paint onto a tilted surface according to a rigidly structured, preconceived composition—is driven by Davenport’s fascination with materiality. Using multiple hypodermic syringes filled with paint, the artist collaborates with the effects of gravity to encourage rivulets of color to lie against one another, gradually building a highly dense picture plane born from the dynamic accumulation of untouched paint. More recently, the artist has developed his process to include allowing the formation of puddles that act as a type of horizon between the wall and the floor of the gallery.
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Pierre Bonnard, Nude in the Bath, 1936, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.
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Ian Davenport, Purple and Blue (After Bonnard), 2020, acrylic on aluminum mounted onto aluminum panel, 78 3/4 x 78 3/4 inches
200 x 200 cm.
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"The palette is really complex… I wanted to make my own painting inspired by those colors. It’s something that I’ve been doing for a while, looking at other artists' work, then deriving and extracting the colors and putting them together in a sequence that reflects the source painting." —Ian Davenport
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The exacting process demanded by the drip paintings is contrasted by that utilized in a series of the artist’s works on paper. Defined by their explosive mark-making and the organic softness of the paper beneath, they appear as fireworks of color bursting forth. The palettes in these works are chosen intuitively by Davenport, sequenced more loosely than the drip works. This playful oscillation between structure and chaos questions what an artist is able to control, exploring the contradictions and complexities of the creative process.
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Works
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About the Artist
Photograph by Henry Bond -
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