10 Question Column: American Painter Davyd Whaley

Davyd Whaley working on his painting Sacred Heart at Art Egg Studios New Orleans, Louisiana. The medium is oil, enamel, blood, mixed media on Arches paper. Photograph by Norman Buckley 2013

American artist Davyd Whaley’s new solo exhibition Subconscious Tendencies has opened at Galerie Michael in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. He talks to Jeanne-Marie Cilento about the show and his method of working in our 10 Question Column

DAVYD Whaley’s paintings exude energy, colour and life. Although they explore both the light and dark sides of human experience, the paintings’ brilliant tonal palette and raw composition express a passionate joy in living. The new works voyage through the complex workings of our mind and spirit and the mystery of our subconscious and dreams.

Whaley grew up in the American South in the Appalachian mountains of eastern Tennessee where life was hard and the arts did not play a great part in quotidian existence. His own path took many twists and turns before he returned full-time to his life-long love of drawing and painting. Although he began to draw at 12 years old and continued throughout high school, Whaley’s life changed when he joined the Navy as a way to pay for his university education. He excelled at electrical engineering and after a four-year stint on submarines went to North Carolina State University to earn his electrical engineering degree, all the while continuing to draw and paint.

Today, Whaley says the training helped him as an artist, especially in drawing with perspective, line and scale. After his degree, a successful career working in the corporate world followed with executive and managerial positions in large companies. However, Whaley's 20-year career dramatically came to an end when he had a series of unexplained seizures which made it impossible to work as an engineer.

“I felt that I had an epiphany of some sort,” Whaley says now. “Creating art was no longer something I did as an outlet for stress, but became something that consumed me. And my work became bolder and originated from a deeper place. I moved away from figurative painting and more into the world of the abstract.”

Whaley continued his studies a the Art Students League in New York with Larry Poons and Ronnie Landfield and at UCLA with Max Malansky and Nick Brown from the Chicago Art Institute. He participated in group shows and began selling his work which was featured in art magazines and galleries. Whaley had also began to teach art in his spare time to seniors and underprivileged children in Los Angeles. In 2012, Whaley won the prestigious Los Angeles Volunteer of the Year Public Arts Education award.

Hollywood played a part in Whaley’s growing artistic career when his work was seen by Galerie Michael, a top Beverly Hills art gallery, at the summer art show hosted by Oscar-winning producer HarveyWeinstein. Last year, Galerie Michael held a major solo show of Whaley's works which was very successful. Today, the artist continues to paint full-time in his large, light studio in downtown Los Angeles at the Santa Fe Artist's Colony.

1. What are the themes you are exploring in your new exhibition?  
The title of the show Subconscious Tendencies explores work on a subconscious level of survival, abandonment, beauty, love, rage, deception, violence, death, denial, and acceptance. My paintings, on a personal and collective level, are about what it means to be a survivor. Most of my paintings suggest inner conflict subliminally, metaphorically or on an unconscious level.

2. How does this show differ from the last one you did a year ago at Galerie Michael?
This show shines a light on some of the principal methods concerning how and why I create work; specifically, my work with my Jungian analyst and how it has impacted my work. Last year, the gallery shared a video introducing me which allowed viewers to see my studio and hear about my work from a narrator. This year I hope to be able to share in my own words. Last year, I  didn’t understand many of the terms well enough to articulate what was happening to me on a psychological level. 

3. What part of painting gives you the most happiness?  
The most notable times, yet the most ironic for me, are those times in which I lose all consciousness of the work: I have no memory of the deed or painting the pictures. I forget basic things, like eating, drinking, and I paint in a trance-like state. It sometimes feels like I have just taken ecstasy. When I look at the image on the canvas afterwards it often looks very alien to me. If I could use a word to describe this, I would use mystical because the experience is a spiritual one.  

I have no sense of when it will return. There are paintings which were painted by me without any memories. The only way I know the paintings are mine is the fact that there are sometimes photographs or videos of me painting on the canvases. The titles of these works are selected after these works are completed. Happiness for me is achieved in the sharing of the work. I hope there is something in my paintings that connects to the viewer on an instinctive, environmental, emotional or psychological level.

4. Do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive?
Painting for me has always been instinctive. It is not an intellectual process. I often build paintings from my subconscious, from dream-based images which I later work out in psychoanalysis, discovering their connections to myths and folklore and then discovering their metaphorical or allegorical meanings.

5. Do you like to have a set schedule of working creatively everyday in your studio in Los Angeles or is the process more fluid?
I find that the process is more fluid.  It would probably be better for me if the schedule were a set schedule and certainly I do have to paint or draw everyday. I actually have psychogenic movements, which start in my right arm and become very aggravated and cause pain if I don’t follow their dictates. I do enjoy my creative process, with a great love, but it also causes a great pain like the Red Shoes: once you have them on you have to dance.

6. Can you describe the experience, person or training that has had the greatest impact on your artistic career?
Larry Poons has had the biggest impact. When I studied with him at the Art Students League of New York, he told me to get my own studio and not to worry about what other people paint. I feel very fortunate to have studied with such a master painter. In this upcoming show I have a piece Colour Is Your Only Weapon which I completed in his studio in New York.  The title comes from his quote. As an artist you only have two things that separate you from anyone else, colour and light. You can paint anything you want, but it must have colour and light. All of of Larry’s advice has been true.  He was an excellent teacher.

7. We've recently interviewed two other Los Angeles-based artists Thomas Houseago and America Martin ~ who both find the city a good place to paint. How do you find Los Angeles as a place to work as an artist?  
Los Angeles is a good place to live and work as an artist.  There was a show called Pacific Standard Time:  L.A/L.A 2011 at the J.Paul Getty Museum that raised the awareness of the Los Angeles art scene.  Prior to 2011/2012 I don't think there was as much attention on LA globally. People thought of artists here as hobbyists. That is changing. After the PST show it's exciting to see Los Angeles artists have works in major museum collections such as John Baldessari at the Guggenheim, Lynn Foulkes at MoMA, Catherine Opie at the Guggenheim, Chris Burden at the New Museum etc.

8. Is there any other particular town or place in the world you find inspiring?
For this current show I was very inspired by the city of New Orleans. The colour in New Orleans was carnival-like, the shapes more primitive and unfinished than you might see in a other cities.  Pink buildings, with green porches, red bricks against a bright cerulean blue sky. Or one day I would see someone dressed as an indian chief dancing in bright pink feathers in front of the Virgin Mary while the sun set on the Mississippi River.  

9. In our digital age what does painting give us as an art form?
In some instances the digital age may give us the same result as painting. For the collector there seems to be some advantage, because there is consistency in how the artwork is produced by the artist, for example the works of Damien Hirst,Takashi Murakami. But I prefer painting because it is tactile and it uses the right side of the brain, as opposed to the left side, which I think I think is more involved in digital work.

10. Recently in the United States, there have been huge prices achieved in modern art sales such as Francis Bacon's 1969 Three Studies of Lucian Freud, for $142.4 million USD at Christie's in New York. Plus Jeff Koons Balloon Dog (Orange) for $58,405,000 USD ~ the highest price paid for a living artist. What do these prices say about today's contemporary art market?

Honestly, it’s hard to put my head around such an abstract question. Looking at the scenario of the contemporary art market it would indicate that extremely rare works of art will inflate with collector demand. The number of collectors are exceeding the available valuable works of art. Francis Bacon's Three Studies of Lucien Freud, valued at $142.4 million USD,  purchased by Ms Elaine Wynn, net worth $1.9 billion USD. She has loaned the painting to the Portland Art Museum. She is a board member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which doesn’t have any works of art as valuable.  In my opinion, this purchase offers a great benefit to the community. 

David Whaley's exhibition Subconcious Tendencies is at Galerie Michael, 224 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills USA: www.galeriemichael.com

Click on images for full-screen slideshow

Boy in Uniform 2013 Oil on linen 24 x 36 inches

City Baby 2013 Oil on wood 12 x 12 inches 

Your Mental Illness is an Illusion 2012 Oil on canvas 81 x 46 inches

Goofer Dust 2013 Acrylic on Arches paper  24 x 36 inches

Your Mental Illness is an Illusion I 2013 Oil, mixed media on canvas, 6 x 12  feet 

Sacred Heart 2013 Oil, enamel, blood, mixed media on Arches paper 72 x 110 inches 

Magnetic Fields 2013 Oil, mixed media on canvas 22 x 17 inches

Armour 2013 Oil on masonite 29 x 29 inches

Rubedo 2013 Oil on wood 38 x 46 inches

Green Snake Lady 2013 Oil on wood panel 12 x 12 inches 

Bedevil 2013 Acrylic, mixed media on canvas 3 x 4 feet

Insistent Rhythm  2013 Acrylic on Arches paper 24 x 18 inches 

Un Deux Trois 2013 Pencil and crayon on a paper menu 17 x 11 inches

Copenhagen A/W 2014: The Fashion Capital of Scandinavia

Asger Juel Larsen presented a collection called Arctic Suburb Manual of daring digital prints of heads, legs and arms ~ a sort of dolls' horror show that no one could take their eyes off. Larsen's designs are a clash of textures but have an aesthetic that is both hardcore industrial and romantic.

Our fashion correspondent Limor Helfgott looks at Scandinavian fashion and chooses the best new talents and established designers at Copenhagen Fashion Week for Autumn/Winter 2014

THERE are many reasons to get excited about Copenhagen Fashion Week, including the street style and the chic, winning looks of the new autumn collections. We’ve had our eye on Scandinavian fashion and particularly on the scene in the Danish capital. Danish designers are starting to have the same impact as those in London and it is now the place for young talents to be educated.

Presenting its autumn/winter 2014 fashion week, Copenhagen lived up to its reputation for edgy, imaginative shows. Bringing Danish fashion to the world, the catwalks had a mix of new and established Scandinavian designers with avant-guarde upcoming labels. Local hero, Mads Nørgaard returned to show his collections to the Danish crowd after a four year absence. Barbara I Gongini brought a strong dose of innovation while Henrik Vibskov added colorful prints and fabrics. Veronica B. Vallenes presented soft classic Norwegian silhouettes on the runway for her show.There were many highlights from the catwalks, but some shone brighter than others and made this fashion week outstanding.

Asger Juel Larsen (see his collection below) is one of the rising stars of menswear with his creations worn by pop stars like Rihanna. The rule-breaking, adventurous designer established himself in the UK after graduating from the London Collage of Fashion. He has worked for John Richmond and Burberry Prorsum and and he is now one of Scandinavia's brightest stars.

Larsen's current collection is called Arctic Suburb Manual and uses lots of nylon and high-tech fabrics. There were functional and slouchy metallic pants and boxy, glossy jackets in grey,white and turquoise. The wearable, well fitted collection also introduced Larsen's signature mix of prints which look cool instead of screamingly tacky.

Next to the tribal patterns, he presented daring digital prints of heads, legs and arms, a sort of doll's horror show that it was difficult to take your eyes off. Larsen's designs are a clash of textures full of an aesthetic that is both hardcore industrial and romantic.

Fashion house Baum und Pherdgarten (see collection below) was founded in 1999 by Rikke Baumgarten and Helle Hestehave. They like to approach their designs with a touch of irony and humor and the brand is well-known for its innovative approach, quality and focus on details.

They presented a strong A/W 2014 collection that was a celebration of prints, feminine shapes and lace combined with sporty influences. The tartan trend was an overall print in the show, quilted jerseys with quirky accents such as leopard prints. The monochrome palette was dotted with splashes of oxblood, lilac and a very beautiful bottle green. 

The signature piece was the flared mini skirt with pleats also appearing on sleeves and peplum tops. Grandpa collars also featured and were layered with knitwear, shirts with contrast piping, sequins (we saw a lot on the catwalks!), snakeskin (that too!) exposed zippers, leather panels, chiffon and quilting. Again layering was a key player in styling this collection as well as experimenting with proportions. Baum und Pferdgarten proved that they are a true go to brand for a simple feminine and classic style with quirky details.

Anne Sofie Madsen (see collection below) trained under John Galliano for Dior in Paris before moving to London to work for Alexander McQueen as a junior designer. For the past couple of seasons, she has risen to be one of the most promising stars of avant-garde fashion in Europe. Her designs are a mix of great detailing, punk and extravagance. Her A/W 2014 collection called A Journey That Wasn't was inspired by the namesake video installation by French artist Pierre Huyge, taking the viewer to Antarctica and combining it with the millennium fears of the 1990s.

There was a big focus on technique as well as materials like silk, micro fibre, embellished cotton and neoprene contrasted with metallic rings and chains. The thick leathers developed by Anne Sofie Madsen and ECCO are a very successful collaboration and the pieces are some of the best of the collection.

Functionalism is important to the designer, with big leather jackets lined with warm neoprene. Washed and bleached denim with frayed edges add to the late ‘90s feel. Her signature sheer and embellished couture dresses were combined with handmade silver accessories by jewellery designer Trine Tuxen. The fur helmets were created by milliner Søren Bach to complete the collection. Overall, a very powerful collection that attracted a lot of attention at this season’s Copenhagen fashion week.

Henrik Vibskor (see pictures of his collection below) one of the most curious, fun and quirky designers, rocked his provocatively titled collection The Spaghetti Handjob. The idea behind the name: he wanted to show the difference between cooked and raw spaghetti and did so with an exciting mishmash of colorful prints, shapes and patterns which were both oversized and tailored at the same time.

On the catwalk, models walked on a twenty-metre-long bed of stretched elastic bands, wearing headwear with chinstraps, reminiscent of those worn by soviet military tank operators. Footwear took the form of boots with a sea foam band fit for the coldest conditions. The layering of fabrics within individual pieces was a significant part of the collection, each layer serves a different purpose; baggy trousers that give a relaxed feel to the classic look, hand crafted knits that were created using old-fashioned rug hooking techniques.

The outerwear also shone: short coats with a zippers and big sculptural neoprene layered sweatshirts added to the edgy look. If you examine the collection closely, putting the styling aside, Vibskor is a master of turning wearable, casual, pieces into something utterly special without being over the top.

Malene Birger (see the collection below) is a popular, high-end international designer brand that has a Net-a-Porter line and is a long time classic worn by style-setters like Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge. Called All that Jazz, the new collection was all about layering and mixing materials. The A/W 2014 collection is a new chapter for the fashion house as design manager Christina Exsteen took the bow after designer Malene Birger recently left in order to pursue new creative challenges.

The collection was sophisticated and elegant, yet more playful and a bit younger then the last collection, mixing luxurious materials with soft knits and chunky hardwear. There were a wide variety of silhouettes for both everyday wear and evening wear. Pieces included over the knee skirts and floating, flattering silk dresses, loose pants with inspiration from menswear and oversized knitwear. The prints were a very big part of this collection – retro-inspired pin stripes, flowery and animal motifs.

The color palette was dominated by strong blue, black, white, brown, silvery and golden tones. Another very strong element was the combination and layering of sequins, soft knits and leather. This collection had some items high on my wish list. We are looking forward to seeing more from Malene Birger with Christina Exsteen.

Pictures by Copenhagen Fashion Week

10 Question Column: Artist America Martin in Los Angeles

Painter America Martin photographed in front of her recent works at her studio in Silverlake, Los Angeles. 

America Martin's three different series of paintings Native Americans, Bathers and Still Life are inspired by her travels in Taos and Aix-en-Provence. The artist answers Jeanne-Marie Cilento's 10 Questions about her life and work. Additional reporting by Ambrogio De Lauro

WHEN I first saw America Martin’s paintings of the human form, I was entranced by the bold lines, rich color and the beatific energy they radiate. Her figurative works are emblematic and yet resonate with feeling and expression. The paintings’ graphic quality is contemporary and yet has a profound connection to the masters of 20th Century Modernism such as Cézanne, Modigliani and Picasso.

Looking back today, Martin says her passion for painting began when she bought a book about Van Gogh at the age of nine years old. As a precocious child of Los Angeles, by ten she had already begun studying with Vernon Wilson, a professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. Growing up in the Hollywood Hills, Martin continued this apprenticeship for the next eight years while attending the Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, California.

After high school, she went on to study at the Boston Museum School and then moved back to Los Angeles. Martin soon began exhibiting and selling her work with other young artists, and being Los Angeles, they asked celebrities or people interested in their work to host the shows. Working from her mother’s garage, she was able to build up enough work to get the attention of art galleries. By starting to sell her work early, Martin was able to create a career in full-time painting in her twenties. 

One of Martin’s key focuses has always been exploring the female figure along with Native Americans, jazz musicians, street scenes, landscapes and still lifes. Today, Martin paints in a large and light studio in Los Angeles's Silverlake which she has also made a hub for local cultural events. The artist has had many solo shows and participated in group exhibitions across North America and she has  published two books about her work, the most recent called Yes came out in December 2013.

1. What part of painting and sculpting gives you the most happiness? And do you find your creative process is more rational or instinctive?

I have always believed that the life of an artist is not one that you choose ~ it is a life that chooses you. It is something you have to do. But to do what you love, to do what you dream, is happiness. I have found that art, when true, when it is good, when it breathes and lets you breathe, comes only from instinct.

I believe that art dies when it is created from rationality. For artists are inherently ridiculously irrational people. They feel too much, they dream too much and they are led around by their enormous hearts. Nevertheless, can you think of an era throughout history that was not influenced by artists?

2. Where did you grow up and does this influence your artwork?

I grew up in the wonderful city of Los Angeles, California. Being a native of L.A has greatly influenced my work. The temperate weather, the abundant resources and the cultural diversity is endlessly inspiring.

3. Why did you choose painting and sculpture as your artistic métier?

I am in love with life and with being alive. When I participate in and observe the world, painting and sculpture are the natural ways in which I am inclined to respond. Painting uses the eye and the heart; sculpture uses the hand and the mind. To do both is like breathing with both lungs.

4. How did your apprenticeship with Vernon Wilson at the Art Center College of Design and studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston influence your work?

Both experiences have given me a life-long desire to be be intensely curious. They taught me that the duty of an artist is to be ready to learn .

5. You have a singular and bold line in your drawings, paintings and sculpture. How did you develop this style of work?

To me, line is love. It is how I admire a subject. Line is how my eye naturally simplifies what I see. When I look at a woman, a man, I instantly see the lines that stand out - and I watch the lines that are less important fade. I know within a few minutes how I would paint them and how I would sculpt them. This line, this intensely joyful curiosity, is something that comes without thinking. It is something with which I believe I was born.

6. Is there a particular color or palette of colors you like to work with?

I take great delight in color. But I also find that there is always more to discover about the many hues of gray, blue and brown.

7. Do you have a set schedule of working creatively everyday in your studio in Los Angeles or is the process more fluid?

I work six days a week. I do not work on Sundays. I have found that art shows up only when you do.

8. What is it like working as an artist in Los Angeles?

Los Angeles is a wonderful place for artists. The sun shines and the sea and the mountains are close by. People come here ready to work and make their dreams come true. That kind of intention has made the air in Los Angeles rich with hope.

9. What inspired you to create the Native American, Bathers and Still Life series?

The mountains and planes of New Mexico are vast. The sky is constantly changing while the land lies still and welcomes the wind to come rolling in, full of memory. In July last year, I attended the enormous Pueblo Pow-wow in Taos, New Mexico. I took photos and listened to a visual story of people who create ceremony to celebrate community, to commemorate and to remember.

Native Faces is a series of paintings and works on paper inspired by the people I met. They are not meant to be strictly representational, but come from a reverence for the dignity of the men, women and children whom I had a chance to meet and observe, who gathered together to honor not only their own ancestors and their own history, but time itself.

The Bathers is a series of paintings created in homage to Paul Cézanne, one of the great masters of Impressionism. He created countless paintings centered on the bather theme that have long enthralled me. I recently visited Cézanne’s studio in Aix-en-Provence. There I was able to see the landscape that fed his palette: the green of the hills, the lean of the trees, the jagged mountains and the sky.

I came away inspired and hungry to create a bathers series in my own voice, color and form. The human form is a landscape that never tires me. There are always new discoveries to be made and great joy in capturing the figure with a few simple lines.

The Still Life paintings arise from quiet, daily adventures. On Saturdays I have a routine. I go to my neighborhood farmer’s market where I buy a few robust pieces of fruit, a languid leek or a bunch of cheerful flowers. I arrange a still life and do a drawing, a painting, or a sculpture. I discover new shapes from fruit, from flowers and from simple pieces of pottery. After I complete a piece, I eat the fruit or cook the leek. 

10. In our digital age what do painting and sculpture give us as art forms?

This is a fantastic time because technology makes the sharing of communication and information so much easier than at any other time in history. The world and all its bounty are but a click away. Nevertheless, the prime function of all artists is still to create something from nothing, to solve problems, to dare to dream ~ and to find ways to realize those dreams. 

However slick we get as a society, there is still beauty in work, dignity in sweat, and triumph in confronting things that are difficult. The style and the voices of artists will continue to be as unique as each individual regardless of the advancements of time and technology.

Click on photographs for full-screen slideshow of America Martin's new paintings

Artist America Martin working in her large and light studio in Silverlake, Los Angeles

Bathers, Birds and Flowers Ink on paper 20 x 30 inches and framed 25.5 x 30 inches.

Women Gathering Lantern Flowers Oil and acrylic on canvas 57 x 67 inches. Price: $16,800 USD

America Martin photographed at her studio in Los Angeles.

Bathers in Orange and Blue Oil and acrylic on canvas 81.5 x 72 inches. Price: $24,000 USD

Bathers Picking Flowers Ink on Paper 30 x 20 inches and framed 36 x 26 inches. Price: $3200 USD

Siren in Sea of Flowers Oil and acrylic on canvas 35 x 78 inches. Price: $13,800 USD

Yellow Pitcher and Watermelon Oil and acrylic on canvas  46.5 x 56 inches.

Bear Claw Necklace Oil and acrylic on canvas 58.5 x 52.5 inches. Price: $15,800 USD

Blue Felt Hat  Oil and Acrylic on Canvas. 57 x 50 inches. Price: $15,200 USD

Chrysanthemum and Trumpet Flowers  Oil and acrylic with resin on canvas 26 x 20 inches. Price: $5500 USD

Sunshine Man Oil and acrylic on canvas. 48 x 48 inches