Billed as the Warhol of his generation, Dave White presents Americana – a new body of work inspired by the iconic imagery of the Western Frontier. Internationally acclaimed artist Dave White explores American heritage and the spirit of the West in his latest solo show. Entitled Americana, the exhibition will feature a series of large scale oil paintings in White’s trademark expressive style, alongside limited edition prints and works on paper.

Taking place at Galleri Jules Julian, Copenhagen 9th September – 22nd October 2011, this exhibition highlights White’s ability to capture dynamic scenes with his distinctive impasto style, while presenting a pioneering approach to documenting the legacy of this era.

The golden age of the Western movie era is encapsulated in White’s dynamic new series, which could be seen as an innovative interpretation of the classic film still. The cultural inspiration of this period is evident in the apocalyptic themes of battles and stand offs. The turbulence and explosive movements animated and presented through chaotic brushstrokes, and the continuous energy of an artist dedicated to his own battle with the canvas create high energy scenes with intense dramatic tension.

The watercolours on paper include a selection of animal works, a subject White explored in his debut exhibition 20 years ago. The first time he has revisited this subject, the animal works are presented with the same dynamism, but a more powerful presence. White’s colourful, vigorously energetic brand of contemporary Pop Art earned him praise from the very inception of his career. His early work, created whilst working in John Lennon’s old studio, was selected for the Northern Graduates Exhibition which toured UK venues including the Royal College of Art, London. Since then his work has appeared in countless solo and group exhibitions worldwide in Kuala Lumpur, Miami, Barcelona, New York, Tokyo and throughout Europe, featuring alongside artists such as Damien Hirst and David Hockney.

Dave White commented:

“My work is always influenced and inspired by the things I love. I’m excited to present this latest body of work, exploring the classic imagery of the West I grew up with as a child.”

Please contact gallery for further information and prices:

Inspired by the popular culture and with a passionate eye for icons created by the media and mass-produced objects, Dave White has been called “the new Warhol” – and with good reason. In addition, White’s war series Planes Tanks and Automatics of 2008 conspicuously refers to Roy Liechtenstein’s cartoon-inspired works of the 60′s. In line with the great predecessors of pop art, the British artist creates his works on the basis of the entertainment industry and explores the facets of repetition and reproduction with playful and eccentric enthusiasm.

With an open and unpretentious approach to art and his own status as an artist, White transfers his favourite objects to the canvas transforming them into expressive works of art characterized by autonomous expression and unique beauty. The fetish-like worship of everyday life niche phenomena demonstrates the artistic relationship with Andy Warhol and his ability to provoke the originality of each work using the copy and manipulation technique as tools.

White’s symptomatic idiom is characterised by the mixture of broad, pronounced brush strokes, very thick layers of paint and the careful, thoughtful brushwork, which wrap the works in feminine elegance – a seductive frailty which is in contrast to the raw factory-made objects and the sometimes unrestrained consumption of paint. By applying several layers of paint in a few areas, the works achieve a unique materiality which makes them look less like reproductions or “copies”. This feature in White’s art reveals a passionate and emotional engagement in the artistic process which unites the final work of art with a personal and expressive look that differs significantly from the flatness of early pop art. Seen in this light, White’s works appear as an ironic and critical comment to Warhol’s clinical and naked works of art as well as to the way in which Warhol in solemn awareness of his own status as “an artist of genius”, exploited the opportunities of mass production to the utmost and created an entire series in a couple of hours.

Dave White’s painterly excesses are based on complexes of themes which have fascinated him since childhood. Based on cars, war, cartoons, super heroes, sneakers and women, he thematises the mass culture and commercialism in a playful manner creating a fascinating originality around the popular aspect. The extremely expressive painting style combined with the feminine elegance of the strokes of the brush add renewed magical power to the objects painted as well as a symbol value reaching far beyond the four walls of the nursery.

Amalie Frederiksen

Bachelor in Art History

Artist Q&A’s

Dave White

What is the basic idea behind your works of art?

All of my work is based on a subject matter that I have a strong connection with, usually based from my childhood. There are underlying meanings and contradictions but that is for the viewer to discover. Only by seeing the works in the flesh will the viewer understand this, as it’s all about the texture and surface of the impasto creating illusion.

Why do you make art and how would you describe your role as an artist?

I have always made images for as long as I can remember, it’s always been a necessity almost like a hunger. I would say that I hope to draw people’s attention to the objects I find beautiful and can be taken for granted.

You seem to be drawn by an intense passion for weapons and women. Where does that passion come from and why do you want to make it a general subject for your works of art?

I have always been fascinated with military hardware, firstly I don’t condone the use of such weapons of death. However, I do find it extremely interesting that machines made to kill have been designed to look so beautiful or totally frightening.

The gun series explored the idea that time changes how we view objects. A flintlock pistol hung on a wall today is viewed as an object of historical significance, exhibiting status and wealth. However it was designed with one sole purpose, and time has abstracted the meaning and sole intent, all that remains is the actual aesthetic beauty devoid of function. The Burlesque series was all based on the dynamism of the female form whilst at it’s most enticing. I wanted to create images that explored the overload of the senses.

It is striking how you manage to create a unique beauty in popular cultural objects. What does the term ‘beauty’ mean to you in an artistic context?

Beauty is a very personal viewpoint and hard to pin down, it’s more of a primal response, something that triggers the senses.

You have found inspiration in comic books, sneakers and other popular cultural objects. What is it about popular culture that fascinates you?

I don’t view things as a whole, rather as individual unique images or objects I find extremely beautiful or interesting, and from this spark I start to make images.

Your artworks have references to artists such as Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. To what extent do you feel inspired by 60s pop art and icon worship and how is your art different from theirs?

I love 60’s pop and I have a very similar mindset, as in what I find interesting as the use for subject matter. But I think that’s where it ends, my work is very much based on surface and texture, movement and dynamic application of oil paint rather than using mechanical processes and techniques of repeated image making.

How do you feel about being called ’the new Warhol’?

I was very flattered indeed but I hope my individuality is more apparent than another’s influence.

How would you describe a successful work of art?

Something that is honest and shows skill and knowledge, with evidence of the battle fought to bring it into existence, that has been loved, hated and loved again.

Can you try to describe your working process from idea to finished artwork?

I will usually see something that creates a spark of an image, with my new works based on classic Americana imagery this is very evident. A series of works on paper are produced from line drawings to watercolours. This becomes almost instinctual when it comes to making the paintings. A very spontaneous line painting is produced and then the painting starts to take shape. From this moment on the painting becomes itself dictating what needs to appear. Very dynamic and quick applications are made and my mindset becomes hypnotic, order is ruled by the contrast of chaos and time is irrelevant. Once I feel my hands slowing down and the brush difficult to leave a mark I know I am near the end.

Questions made by Amalie Frederiksen

Inspireret af populærkulturen og med et passioneret øje for medieskabte ikoner og massefremstillede objekter er Dave White, med god grund, blevet kaldt ’den nye Warhol’. Whites krigsserie Planes Tanks and Automatics fra 2008 har desuden iøjnefaldende referencer til Roy Liechtensteins tegneserieinspirerede værker fra tresserne. I tråd med popkunstens store forgængere skaber den britiske kunstner sine værker med udgangspunkt i underholdningsindustrien og udforsker med legende og excentrisk begejstring gentagelsens og reproduktionens facetter.

Med en frimodig og uhøjtidelig tilgang til kunsten og sin egen status som kunstner overfører White sine favoritobjekter til lærredet, hvor de forvandles til udtryksfulde kunstværker med et autonomt udtryk og en unik skønhed. Den fetichagtige dyrkelse af hverdagens nichefænomener markerer det kunstneriske slægtskab med Andy Warhol og denne kunstners evne til at fremprovokere det enkelte værks originalitet med kopien og manipulationsteknikken som redskab.

Whites symptomatiske formsprog kendetegnes ved en blanding af brede, markerede penselstrøg, meget tykke lag maling og en forsigtig, eftertænksom penselføring, der omgærder værkerne med en feminin elegance – en forførende skrøbelighed, der står i kontrast til de rå fabriksfremstillede genstande og det til tider hæmningsløse forbrug af maling. Når malingen enkelte steder påføres i flere lag får værkerne en særegen materialitet, der mindsker deres umiddelbare karakter af reproduktion eller ’kopi’. Dette karaktertræk ved Whites kunst afslører et lidenskabeligt og følelsesmæssigt engagement i den kunstneriske proces, som forlener det færdige kunstværk med et personligt og ekspressivt udtryk, der afviger markant fra den tidligere popkunsts fladhed. Set i dette lys fremstår Whites værker som en ironisk og kritisk kommentar til Warhols kliniske og nøgne kunstværker samt til den måde, hvorpå Warhol, i højtidelig bevidsthed om sin egen status som ’genial’ kunstner, dyrkede masseproduktionens muligheder til det yderste og skabte en hel serie på et par timer.

Dave Whites maleriske udskejelser er baseret på tematikker, der har fascineret ham siden barndommen. Med udgangspunkt i biler, krig, tegneserier, superhelte, sneakers og kvinder tematiseres massekulturen og kommercialismen på en legende facon, der skaber en betagende originalitet omkring det folkelige. Den ekstremt ekspressive malestil kombineret med den feminine elegance i penselføringen tilfører de skildrede objekter en fornyet magisk kraft samt en symbolværdi, der rækker langt ud over børneværelsets fire vægge.

Amalie Frederiksen

Bachelor in Art History