Industrial spaces, killer heels, human debris and English landscape, the remnants of Christ being dragged through the room, the fires are in my head, the germination has begun, the transition of life outbound.
David Whittaker. 2012
Millennium is proud to be hosting this major solo exhibition of new work from The National Open Art Competition 2011, First Prize Winner – David Whittaker.
‘A Bird In the Mammal House’ offers a powerful reflection on the human condition in an honest and uncompromising way, something that Whittaker is becoming increasingly renowned for.
Whittaker’s painted portraits, primarily of heads, succinctly capture the messiness of existence balanced perfectly alongside inner utopian desires. Tumultuous, almost aggressive oil work blur the boundaries between the 'inner' and the 'outer'. Images of romanticised, crystal clear English landscapes fill the metaphysical void – these are portals into idolised worlds surrounded by the chaos of reality.
When faced with these 'heads' the reference in the exhibition title to 'The Mammal House' at London Zoo becomes clear, almost as if these monumental beasts stare at you from their isolated pens. The small birds that surreptitiously find their way into these enclosures add to the fleetingness of the image and the sense that something fragile in these paintings and in the human condition has been caught like a butterfly to be cherished within the case of the canvas. The presence of these birds perhaps unconsciously references Whittaker’s feelings of being 'a small bird in mans big world', a cross pollination that relates to his gender dysphoria which he was diagnosed with three years ago – something that continues to have a profound effect upon the work ensuring a universal balance and conflict.
The exhibition also includes three mixed media sculptural works - If the paintings arguably focus on inner utopia, then these works (which can also be seen as portraits) reflect with sometimes brutal yet beautiful and fragile honesty the human debris of day to day - as with the paintings the stage is frozen and distilled so that we can experience and unravel the core of the subject. This tone continues in smaller works on board which seem to illustrate a fragmented figure of 'The Crucifixion' utilising collage often charged with both inconsequential and highly confrontational imagery from the media - these moving works are very much reflect the events of the here and now.
Whittaker’s complexity, integrity and fearlessness gives him a distinctive and original voice and this exhibition is his most important to date.
David Whittaker. 2012
Millennium is proud to be hosting this major solo exhibition of new work from The National Open Art Competition 2011, First Prize Winner – David Whittaker.
‘A Bird In the Mammal House’ offers a powerful reflection on the human condition in an honest and uncompromising way, something that Whittaker is becoming increasingly renowned for.
Whittaker’s painted portraits, primarily of heads, succinctly capture the messiness of existence balanced perfectly alongside inner utopian desires. Tumultuous, almost aggressive oil work blur the boundaries between the 'inner' and the 'outer'. Images of romanticised, crystal clear English landscapes fill the metaphysical void – these are portals into idolised worlds surrounded by the chaos of reality.
When faced with these 'heads' the reference in the exhibition title to 'The Mammal House' at London Zoo becomes clear, almost as if these monumental beasts stare at you from their isolated pens. The small birds that surreptitiously find their way into these enclosures add to the fleetingness of the image and the sense that something fragile in these paintings and in the human condition has been caught like a butterfly to be cherished within the case of the canvas. The presence of these birds perhaps unconsciously references Whittaker’s feelings of being 'a small bird in mans big world', a cross pollination that relates to his gender dysphoria which he was diagnosed with three years ago – something that continues to have a profound effect upon the work ensuring a universal balance and conflict.
The exhibition also includes three mixed media sculptural works - If the paintings arguably focus on inner utopia, then these works (which can also be seen as portraits) reflect with sometimes brutal yet beautiful and fragile honesty the human debris of day to day - as with the paintings the stage is frozen and distilled so that we can experience and unravel the core of the subject. This tone continues in smaller works on board which seem to illustrate a fragmented figure of 'The Crucifixion' utilising collage often charged with both inconsequential and highly confrontational imagery from the media - these moving works are very much reflect the events of the here and now.
Whittaker’s complexity, integrity and fearlessness gives him a distinctive and original voice and this exhibition is his most important to date.
Requiem for Amy (Chepstow Castle, River Wye, Siskin Finch)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 160 x 160 cm
The Year List (Bassaleg Viaduct, River Ebbw, Redstart)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 160 x 160 cm
To Compose England (Rydal Mount, Cumbria, Hume’s Warbler)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 160 x 160 cm
Such Unquestioning Faith (Salisbury Cathedral, Robin)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 160 x 160 cm
In The Splendour (Buckinghamshire, Lesser Redpoll)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 160 x 160 cm
Crucifixion One (triptych):
1. (Mapledurham)
2. (Lancaster Canal)
3. (Stourhead)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 160 x 160 cm each
Phantom Daughters Arc Light Through Reading Station
oil & acrylic on canvas . 79 x 79 cm
Silence from the Beretta (From English Heads, Northumberland)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 79 x 79 cm
The Octavia Damsel Light (From English Heads, Warwickshire)
oil & acrylic on canvas . 79 x 79 cm
The Soldier (triptych):
1. Soldier Before Combat Leave (Rotton Park Reservoir, Birmingham)
2. Soldier After Combat Back to England (River at Mayton Bridge)
3. Soldier Ghost Dancing Back to Loved Ones
oil & acrylic on canvas . 79 x 79 cm each
And I Heard Her Voice For the Last Time in a Text of Love
mixed media . height 137 cm
Angels and Phantoms (Leaves & Lines, Bricks & Walls, Tears & Rain)
mixed media . height 137 cm
Not of the Third World But of England
mixed media . height 137 cm
I To
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
Monumental Closure
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
There was a Saviour
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
On Its Haunches
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
Falling From the Sky
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
When You Really See the Angels
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
Five Seconds of Red
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
The Spirit Will Never Diminish
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
The Meat, The Monkeys and The Glass
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
When the World is Out of Your Hands
oil, acrylic, china marker & collage on panel . 41 x 41 cm
