Chasing Light
July 17 - September 4, 2021

Nature is highlighted in two shows opening at Craven Allen Gallery: Chasing Light, paintings by David Davenport, and Animals in the Hood, mixed media sculptures of recycled materials by Bryant Holsenbeck. The shows open at Craven Allen Gallery on Saturday, July 17th, with a reception from 5 to 7 pm, and continue through September 4th.

With his BFA in hand, David Davenport left his rural hometown of Bear Creek, NC for work in advertising, culminating as an art director in New York.  Eventually the pull of fine art proved too strong; he went back to school for a Master of Fine Arts degree, and returned to North Carolina where he has made his career painting the world he knows best.

Davenport makes sketches and paints in the field, often returning to the same subject many times throughout the seasons and in all weathers.  He returns to the studio to refine his vision in oils or acrylic, combining abstraction with realism and a strong sense of color.  Canvases range from the intimate to the expansive.   He maintains a studio in Durham, and his work is in corporate and private collections throughout the state. The show marks his debut at Craven Allen.

STATEMENT

In my paintings I seek to share a sense of place. I grew up in eastern North Carolina, and remain inspired by that rural landscape, returning often to explore my family’s homeplace in Bear Grass, NC. My painting process combines both realism and abstraction to capture the effects of light on the landscape’s houses, barns, and abandoned buildings during different times of the day and throughout the seasons. I am fascinated by the stories and mysteries stored within these weathered, ark-like structures. Sometimes I paint from the perspective of the inside of the structure, looking out – letting the mystery of what is unseen for the viewer to imagine. I often return to the same subject multiple times, experimenting with technique, color​ and scale, to know a landscape intimately — chasing the light.