American Artist David Salle, one of the most important names of Art History, is in Istanbul for the first time!
Sevil Dolmacı Istanbul is pleased to present the first solo exhibition of American artist David Salle in Turkey. Titled Unaccompanied Minors, the exhibition consists of 21 new works/paintings that Salle has been working on this year in his New York studio. The paintings belong to the artist's Tree of Life series and her new series Windows. The artist will meet art lovers on May 7 with her works produced for Istanbul in different media and in different dimensions.
Born in 1952, David Salle is a versatile artist who works in a variety of disciplines, from painting to photography, printmaking to stage design. Salle came to prominence in New York in the early 80s alongside neo-expressionists such as Eric Fischl and Julian Schnabel. He also worked with artists of the same generation from the Pictures Generations, such as Barbara Kruger, Cindy Sherman and Richard Prince, and quickly became an important name.
"Since I started painting, I have tried to capture the fluidity and surprise effect of the connection of images in film montages," the artist says of his work. Salle's paintings are influenced by Pop Art, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. Famous for his large scale and elusive compositions, his juxtaposition of contrasting styles and moods, he uses images that refer to popular culture, 50s and 60s cartoon imagery, graffiti, as well as art history. As with language and poetry, Salle says, painting emphasizes the balancing of contrasting elements.
Salle's paintings, although at first glance they appear to be random compositions, are composed of a heterogeneous collection of images deliberately superimposed in an irregular manner. The images chosen by Salle are never random; on the contrary, they are related to each other in complex ways. Salle is interested in the impact on our collective consciousness and sense of self of the images and ideas we are constantly exposed to throughout the day in a media-dominated world. The compositions in her paintings encourage viewers to engage on an emotional, mental and psychological level.
Salle's creative process usually begins with photographs. The artist, who continues to photograph live models as a painting reference, an innovative approach that was both very controversial and unprecedented at the time, continues to combine two artistic disciplines with this approach.
In 2020-21, during the pandemic, Salle created the Tree of Life series, influenced by Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. The series also references The New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno (1904-1968). In this series, the canvases show the contrast between a black and white palette and a multicolored palette. We are very excited to be hosting works in the exhibition that reflect the full range of David Salle's artistic approaches.
David Salle's solo exhibition Unaccompanied Minors will be on display at Sevil Dolmacı Istanbul from May 7 until June 25, 2024.
David Salle
Born in 1952 in Norman, Oklahoma, Salle received both his BFA (Bachelor of Fine Arts) and MFA (Master of Fine Arts) degrees from the California Institute of the Arts. During his studies, he studied under the renowned conceptual artist John Baldessari, who left a lasting impression on Salle's work. After graduation, Salle moved to New York, during which time he began working with the famous gallery owner Mary Boone. Around the same time, Salle began working as a set and costume designer for the American Ballet Theater. In 1995, he made his directorial debut in Hollywood with the movie "Search and Destroy".
Salle came to public attention in New York City in the 1980s as a leading figure of the Pictures Generation movement. Salle's first solo museum exhibition took place at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam in 1983, followed by his first retrospective at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1999. This exhibition was later exhibited at the Museum
Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Castello di Rivoli Museo d'Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy; and Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain. His paintings have been exhibited in major institutions worldwide, including the Albertina Museum in Vienna; the Art Institute of Chicago; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Contemporary Art; the Guggenheim Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; the Kestnergesellschaft Museum in Hannover; the Castello di Rivoli in Turin; the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao; the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid; and the Tate Gallery in London.
Salle is also a prolific writer and critic, whose articles and interviews have appeared in Artforum, Art News, Modern Painters, The Paris Review, and The New York Review of Books, as well as numerous exhibition catalogs and anthologies. His critical essay collection "How to See" was published by W. W. Norton in 2016. Salle lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.
The artist is represented by Ropac Gallery in Europe and Gladstone Gallery in the United States.
