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Goodwill and the Unknown Man

BOOKMARK ARTICLE

With an exuberant imagination and an extraordinary sense of colour, David Brian Smith produces paintings that completely twist the original photographic model from which they were inspired.

Smith grew up in a farm in the English countryside, and his choice of subjects reflects his personal memories. In his latest series of work he uses shepherds as his main characters. Smith starts from old photographs portraying farmers and shepherds, but he completely reinvents them in an exuberant style.

Smiths's painterly process is a long and painstakingly meticulous one. He experiments with different ranges of canvases and paint oils. He tries different gestural brushstrokes, from the most large and violent to the extremely precise and delicate ones. The polychromatic treatment creates detailed decorative patterns resembling gem-like decorations. As a result, even the most basic composition is characterised by a dreamy imaginative atmosphere, which is radically different from the photographic original.

Goodwill and the Unknown Man runs until 17 November at Carl Freedman Gallery in London.

Carl Freedman Gallery
29 Charlotte Road
London
EC2A 3PB

Images courtesy of the artist and Carl Freedman Gallery.

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