"Four Stars""★★★★"
Review of David Mann's solo show:
When I had got to the Reception I was wondering why there were so few people there, and being disappointed with some of the other galleries near by I was wondering if this one would be any better. To my pleasant surprise David Mann did a great job! His process must be pretty unique because the paintings looked like biology photography straight out of a medical text book. I figure he drips diluted paint on the canvass and then stretches it onto a board. Fantastic results I must say, I would keep an eye on Mann. I could not find one imperfection with the paintings, if only I had a larger credit line I would have been carrying one home that night! Each piece really draws in the viewer as a window to another realm. In this way the paintings are both exploratory and invasively looking inward. Each canvass also captured a tranquil sense of movement. You should definitely see this show!Press Release of MCKENZIE Fine Art Gallery:
David Mann
October 15 - November 14, 2009
David Mann's abstract paintings suggest something on the cusp of coming into being, in a state of dissolution or dissipation, or both at once. The artist is interested in disrupting the experience of scale and space so there is ambiguity between the large and small. In several of the paintings there is a darkness located in the center of the painting giving a sense of great depth. This dark space brings to mind a deep channel or a cavernous abyss and has general associations with the pervasiveness of mystery and the unknown in our experience. On a more abstract level, the paintings explore illuminated darkness. Countering the deep space in some of the work are extended forms suggesting dramatic explosions or implosions with their expansive or compressive motion and attendant sexual overtones.
Mann's paintings reveal his interest in scientific imaging, particularly the Scanning Electron Microscope and the Hubble Telescope. This imagery is referenced for its abstract qualities and is compelling to the artist because of its inaccessibility to the naked eye, requiring the use of technology to be seen. The reference to science in the work is more philosophical than conceptual; the artist doesn’t seek to represent scientific concepts or theories but is concerned with the role science plays in our world, both as a source of information and as an authority on the nature of things. Mann's paintings embody the parallel idea that the artist subjectively gives form to previously unseen worlds in his work and that we gain vision of invisible worlds, the intimate (microscopic) and the immense (the cosmic), through highly technological means. The paintings therefore suggest hidden or obscure worlds and serve as a reminder of the ability of painting to give representation to these unseen realms, whether real or subjective.(quoted from mckenziefineart.com)
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