DAVID WHELAN
PICTURES OF PLACES
June 17 - August 27, 2023

Double Window at Dusk
Oil on linen
14 x 14”
2023

View of Jim’s Shed
Oil on linen
13 x 15”
2023

Studio, Stones Point
Oil on aluminum
5 x 7”
2023

Fallen Trees near Strack Pond
Oil on linen
15 x 18”
2023

Closed Window, Overcast
Oil on aluminum
5 x 7”
2023

Wheelbarrow Upside Down
Oil on aluminum
5 x 7”
2023

  In this new body of work, Whelan draws from his immediate environment: his apartment window, a neighbor's shed, and views through city parks. Often painted in single sessions, the artist uses intuitive brushstrokes and a perceptive color palette to capture the specific feelings of these places.

      Underlying each work is a strong awareness for the window-like boundary delimiting the picture place. The frame shapes the observed world, organizing what the artist sees into a pictorial system. Whelan composes his works within this frame, revealing feelings of containment, isolation and longing.

      There is a push and pull that happens when viewing the works. The eye is drawn in by the glowing light and rich hues that Whelan achieves, but then it stops short. A felled tree, a stack of boulders, a window's frame or a building's architecture blocks the gaze and one is confronted with the limits of the painting as an object. The viewer is invited into the painting, then kept at bay.

      David Whelan received his MFA from Yale University in 2012 and BFA from Lyme Academy College of Fine Art in 2008. He is a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship (2016) and the Toby Devan Lewis Foundation Fellowship (2012). He has been awarded residencies at Macdowell, Lighthouse Works, and the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, among others. He is also a contributor to Artforum, The Brooklyn Rail, and Effects Journal. The artist lives in Brooklyn, NY.