The fruits of Labor days

It's one week away-Purgatorium at Bash- two years worth of preparation kneeling at the alter of my easel, a hanging for public dissemination, though not too much of a public hanging hopefully. 
The Art is framed and wrapped like Festivus,and we shall be hitting the road for the long haul to the Bay shortly.
Which just leaves me to say a hearty thank you to everyone who has shared, liked and commented through the social media sphere- whilst certain 'official' quarters remain less than forthcoming in recognizing my efforts-I am always encouraged by the enthusiasm and support of my true fans. 

Cheers!!

Hope to see some of you next week

PURGATORIUM AT BASH CONTEMPORARY

Artist reception Saturday September 6th-6pm-9pm

210 Golden Gate Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102 info@bashcontemporary.com

Final Painting for the Purgatorium show

 

Although most of my friends on Facebook and the like will be acquainted with it by now, here it is for your viewing pleasure-"This thing of Darkness, I acknowledge mine"

What to tell you about it-well, not only is it the last piece I painted, but it's the final piece in the entire series. I had intended 'He who dies, pays all debts" (and I apologize for the long titles, but you know-go tell it to Shakespeare) but I really wanted the arc to end on a high note, as well as it be something which could include Joseph Locke, William Blake and my cat Ronin. 

With all that said, it's kind of a farewell to England, or the idea of England-a place that exists as an idea rather than tangible landmass. A topography of the mind, or at least its surrounding ocean if you will. 

It'll be hung along it's sisters and brothers throughout September at Bash Contemporary. 

Yeah, you know the drill. HERE

SERIAL KILLER CULTURE NOW STREAMING ON NETFLIX

Hard to believe that just two short years ago, I was in a similar storm working on the Man/son showcase. Of course-the scale, proportions and the month of fevered frenzy it took, are worlds apart from the years work I have just undertaken. Still, evoking as it did; the dark Cabalistic, turbulence surrounding a ritualistic killing during the summer of 69, and threading the seeping black tendrils of madness and paranoia spanning centuries, is not the best of pursuits when you are painting for fourteen hours a day,  inhaling turpentine in 106 degrees and listening to Revolution 9 on repeat.

Still, I came out the other side, none the richer or wiser, and now since it's part of the segment of a documentary called Serial Killer Culture, you can stream my fifteen minute moment, to see and hear more for yourself.

SERIAL KILLER CULTURE ON NETFLIX

Candy Covered Coatings.

Here I am, gilding the lilly, or slapping on a final coat of varnish to the layman. If we as artists were an honest breed, I imagine we would admit that it is the absolute worst part of the process, the moment when all your hours meticulously working color, hue and detail, is obliterated by chance, akin to dragging broad daubs of phlegmatic, milky, sputum across your work with the flat edge of a broom. It's an absolute macrocosm in time,space and humidity and one give's oneself over absolutely to the alchemy of environment, which when all said and done, is probably wonderfully freeing and cathartic, and rather like a trial by fire or some thing like that. 

Regardless, we are just under three weeks away from endgame, skates on, showdown or up if you will. 

Purgatorium-Graphite versions

One of the core pleasures of this series, was the opportunity to do detailed sketches before scaling up to their painted versions. All the pieces are 11" x 14" and priced at $500 each, any inquiries should be forwarded to info@bashcontemporary.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titles:

1. Good wombs have borne bad sons.

2. Whats past is prologue.

3. A thousand furlongs of sea, for an acre of barren land.

4. The dark and backward abysm of time

5. Brave new world

6. Misery acquaints man with strange bedfellows

7. So lie there, my Art

8. Poor worm, thou art infected

9. Night kept chained below

10. Space have I to lie in such a prison

11. He that dies pays all debts

12. This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine  

Purgatorium on site

Breaking on through-that's me putting on the final touches before clearing the rubble, and final calls before showtime. For the remainder, I'll be gilding the Lilly with varnish and trying to get the word out-the toughest challenge of all.
So I also designed a site for the showcase, which kind of frames the series nicely I think, so check it out-bookmark it, share it.


PURGATORIUM OFFICIAL WEBSITE

Press Release for the Purgatorium Show

Please feel free to reshare with relevant news outlets
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

8/6/2014

San Diego

Bash Contemporary Gallery presents:
David Van Gough's Purgatorium
September 5th through October 5th
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 6, 6 pm to 9 am

Bash Contemporary
210 Golden Gate Avenue,
San Francisco, CA 94102
info@bashcontemporary.com

http//:bashcontemporary.com

 (415) 926-8573

Artist website: www.davidgoughart.com/Purgatorium.htm

About Purgatorium

In his forty-fifth Year, David Van Gough embarked upon a series which would finally confront the daunting shadow cast by his most famous ancestor, and the inevitable connotations of that surname.

Adopting the characterization of Vincent Van Gogh as martyr, and recapitulating stanza's from Shakespeare's Tempest as themes of metaphorical exile - Purgatorium (Latin for the place in between) sets a chronological backdrop of imagined personal biography from birth to death, against an undercurrent of ancient sinister architecture, and the desolate shipyards of his Liverpool hometown.

An epic aphorism, Purgatorium is Gough's contemporary exorcism, an ode from the artist as forgotten alchemist, examining the painters role as both confessor and inquisitor, in a continued tortured state of crippling self evaluation, against the burgeoning detritus of modern assimilation

ABOUT THE ARTIST
 
A self-proclaimed Necrorealist, David Van Gough is an artist originally from Liverpool, England living in California.

Using allegory chronicling a heightened sense of mortality, and the madness of the minds subterranean fathoms, his work is an emotional excavation for purpose.

An Honoree Artist of 2010 at the San Diego Art Institute, his work has been exhibited at the Oceanside Museum of Art as well as hosted in a succession of solo showcases on both sides of the Atlantic. More recently, his previous exhibit- Man/son and the haunting of the American Madonna- has been featured as part of the critically acclaimed documentary Serial Killer Culture by John Borowski.

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