Artist’s Statement

As a former teacher of drawing, the use of line has become a dominant issue in my painting. Eastern art and calligraphy as well as the works of Matisse and late Picasso are influences which have had a strong effect in shaping my images, approach and outlook. I feel that much of my painting flirts with and blurs the boundaries of painting and drawing. I enjoy the physical nature of a large gestural line. I often work in a large scale to create situations where the required stroke demands physical movement on my part. The very act of applying paint creates its own choreography. The line’s vitality hinges upon the dance behind the brush.

The movements of line, the movement of my hand and body are the motive force behind these paintings. Color and subject matter here are somewhat capricious, sometimes they are at the mercy of sentiment and sometimes they are defined by the rigors of intellect. However, underlying my work is an optimism, a faith in the act and tools of painting. I believe too much art has been swallowed by a jaded cynical outlook. If art is to survive and grow (and by extension culture, society and humanity) it must not allow itself to be mired in the role of commentary. Art must seek to create, to elevate, and to invent.

Art may serve to reflect culture, but it can also serve to educate a culture. The artist should not be naive, but I can only see a limited value in the regurgitation of a society’s ills. To look forward despite the absurdity of looking forward is an artist’s responsibility. The world is a desperate, crushing place, but in the world there is also beauty, love and humanity. A formal problem may pique my curiosity, an emotional event may influence my color or subject matter, but I believe that the reason why I paint at all is a basic faith, a real belief in beauty, love and humanity.

David Stanley Cohen