Davis Cone
dal 5/1/2006 al 10/2/2006
Segnalato da
5/1/2006
Davis Cone
Forum Gallery, Los Angeles
Recent paintings. On view will be eight luminous and startlingly precise paintings of Art Deco movie theatres, created by the artist from 2001to 2005.
On January 6, 2006, Forum Gallery will present an exhibition of
recent paintings by one of America's foremost realist artists, Davis Cone. On
view will be eight luminous and startlingly precise paintings of Art Deco movie
theatres, created by the artist from 2001to 2005. In these extraordinary works,
Davis Cone meticulously captures the architectural grandeur of each theatre and what
it represents to our collective subconscious. Cone reverently documents these
American cultural icons, capturing their importance and majesty in vivid detail.
Since the 1970's, Davis Cone has focused exclusively on theatres that become
the architectural focus of the streets where they appear. Their marquees jut out
over sidewalks and the neon of their signs reduce nearby lights to comparative
dimness. In their surroundings, the theatres are unique in providing the center of
life to each location, yet they seem to belong, to feel comfortable, precisely
where they are. To imagine each scene Cone depicts without its theatre is
impossible. His compositions provide a seamless fit, a perfect balance of
horizontal and vertical, of plane and void, of tone and color.
Davis Cone's subjects give us much to discuss, from the history of the motion
picture in America to one's earliest memories of going to the movies. Cone
himself talks about these elements as providing the "atmosphere" of his art. Davis
Cone paints from photographs, but his intention is to create an image that only the
human eye can "see." To accomplish this, he takes dozens of pictures of the entire
setting, zooming in on the buildings adjacent to the theatre, and even further on
architectural details. Through a complex "re-translation process," he weaves
together a completely focused image, free of the inherent qualities and distortions
of a camera's optics. The result is as if seen by a person through the glassy
surface of a window. Cone evokes a sense of place, of time of day, of temperature
and atmosphere. The viewer feels that he is at the scene at the moment when the
painting is completed.
Davis Cone was born 1950 in Augusta, Georgia. He currently resides in Miami Beach,
Florida. He studied at the University of Georgia in Athens and Mercer University in
Macon, Georgia where he received his BA. In 1977, Cone began exhibiting in Augusta;
by 1981, his work was shown in Tokyo, Lisbon, Madrid and Nuremberg as well as many
major American cities. Davis Cone's work is included in many public and
private collections including the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA; High
Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Lawrence Kasdan, Beverly Hills, CA; and Steven
Spielberg, Los Angeles, CA among others.
Davis Cone: Recent Works opens with a reception for the artist on January 6, 2006
from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. and will be on view through February 11, 2006. A full
color catalogue with an essay by Carter Ratcliff will accompany the exhibition.
Image: Davis Cone, Dusk, 2005, acrylic on canvas
Opening Reception: Friday, January 6, 7-9pm
Forum Gallery
8069 Beverly Blvd. (at Crescent Heights Blvd.), Los Angeles, California 90046
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.