On February 18th, it shall be 41 years since the death sentence of Charles Manson and his three followers was revoked to life imprisonment. Its seems almost timely then, that as a reminder of why he and his murderous cohorts were incarcerated, I am pleased to announce that I am releasing my second art book-Rise: Man/son and the Haunting of the American Madonna, which will include art from last years exhibition, along with annotations, sketches and notes that accompanied the series.
More details to follow.
"Exploding Muse" was a study which hails from the Ghost series from 2010-11.
At the time I described it as 'a measured reflection
on the ravages of time eroding beauty as something innately beautiful.'
Its now an addition to the gallery on my website Here
To showcase a selection of portraits and commissions from the last few years, there's a new gallery on my site entitled 'Visage', and you will find Samuel Beckett (above) in grand company amongst the likes of William Burroughs, Ziggy Stardust, Frankenstein and Lana Del Rey:
http://davidgoughart.com/visage_gallery.html
'Osmosis',began life as a drawing for a Valentines day show at Mosaic gallery, before it was reworked in oils in 2011, and showcased at the Alternative Cafe No Brow exhibit the same year.
Currently, you can see it, along with a number of other works-including those from the Man/son series, at the Ruby Room here in San Diego until January 31st.
It's also available as signed prints:
http://davidgoughart.com/Art_Osmosis_Giclee.html
My wife-Lani-is a huge fan of the Bride of Frankenstein, and so as a surprise gift for the holiday's, I painted Elsa Lanchester in her most iconic role.
As you can see she was very happy with the results.
Working on the Man/son series last year, opened a literal can of worms, as far as the research involved. Part of my own personal remit, was to trace what I saw as connections back to my hometown of Liverpool, and so I began a blog as a counterpoint to the series called One Hundred & Fifty Cielo Drive.
The latest post is the first in a series of posts on the Mersey Freemasons, and you can read it by clicking the following banner link
The original for 'Melancholy Shadow' was sold to a private buyer late last year, but I've made 11" x 14" signed prints available, along with what I would say are some of my most enduringly popular pieces, over on my site-just $12 each.
http://davidgoughart.com/Art_Prints_Giclee.html
Edgar Alan Poe has always been one of my favorite authors, and so it was an honor and welcome surprise, when the founding member of the rock band-Tourniquet-approached me late last year, to commission the use of a painting for the cover of their album-'Spoken Tales of a Tortured Genius.'
Titled 'Thus said'-the painting dates back to 2006, and depicts the author surrounded by symbolic props, representative of his life and works.
It's the perfect frontispiece for the album, which contains seven
classic Poe stories, read aloud by seven rock performers to an ambient backdrop by Ted Kirkpatrick. The albums track listing is as follows:
The Tell-Tale Heart: LES CARLSEN - Bloodgood
The Haunted Palace: FRANK MARINO – Mahogany Rush
The Cask of Amontillado: LUKE EASTER – Tourniquet
The Raven: ERIC WAGNER - Trouble
The Masque of the Red Death: JAMIE ROWE - Guardian
The Oval Portrait: ROB BECKLEY – Pillar
The Raven: WARREL DANE - Nevermore
Having listened to the album, the vocal performances lend a gritty, world weary feel against a gothic rock backdrop, beffitting its dark colonial origins.
You can purchase the album from the bands website:
http://www.tourniquet.net/audio.html
Or listen to preview Here
It may have been over a year since it's release, but Michael Ashman has written a sterling review of my book D3ad/Ends, for those good folks over on Thumbprint...
"Is death really “The End”, or is there an afterlife after all? David
Gough contemplates this idea and so will you after looking at his art
book titled "D3ad/Ends."
You can read his very perceptive article in full from the link: D3ad/Ends review, or if you are in La Jolla, visit Thumbprint gallery, in what I would say is San Diego's gateway venue for happening Art.
The book is still available from my site, davidgoughart.com/Dead_Ends.html
Welcome to the relaunch of my blog, in what will be a forum for any up to date news relating to my art.
Since the close of the Man/son (and the haunting of the American Madonna) show last
October, I have been busy making preparations for the next series, 'Purgatorium', getting the studio habitable again, priming canvases and working on preliminaries.
This will be my largest show to date comprising 33 pieces in all, with a planned exhibit in March 2015.
In the interim, there will be the launch of the Man/son book-'Rise' this February, which will
contain the paintings from the show, alongside sketches, personal study notes and annotations.
Following on from that, there will be some more exciting happenings, which I don't want to say too much about at the moment, except suffice to say that with more art than you can shake a sable at, the new year is
off to a flying start .
In the meantime,I'll leave you with an explanation of the painting above, which comes from the End of the world show at the Ruby Room on 12/21/2012.
The Ruby Room was the first venue I showcased at in San Diego almost five years to the date-and like the serpent swallowing its tail, it was the
perfect closing of an arc, which naturally, culminated in me painting a dead,red Cardinal as a cherry on the cake of years.
