A couple of years ago, David Spiller had an exhibition at a gallery in Miami. On the morning of the show, he was met at the door by an ashen-faced guard: the man explained he had arrived a little earlier to find that someone had broken into the space overnight and scrawled graffiti over Spiller’s paintings. Standing in his South London studio, Spiller beams with delight at this story, the graffiti being his own, the culprit himself.
You can see why this misunderstanding may have happened; his canvasses feature the cultural symbolism of cartoons that we know and love and combines them with elements of stories, songs and memories, that he scrawled on top of his canvas, which in itself, could be a symbol of the difficulty that artists have in creating an image which is honest. This demonstrates how Spiller reaches out to his audience by projecting his thoughts as a kind of graffiti on his work; like his thoughts are literally bursting out of the canvas. This shows a powerful sense of the connection between art, text and colour through his emotive input, which he hopes will appeal to each viewer’s personal history. Every scrawl and drip of paint reminds the viewer that behind each mark is the sweep of a hand or arc of a brush.
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| "You can set my heart on fire" 2010 Acrylic and pencil on canvas |
Many of Spiller’s works are created by painstakingly stitching together panels of material. These swatches of colour and text juxtapose to create a pristine whole over which he then adds his own personality by graffitiing like a child attempting to leave his mark. This child-like scribbling could go to show pure thoughts that haven’t been planned prior to creating the painting, which opens the imagination even more to wonder what made him choose these particular words to go with the character. Popular choices for Spiller to include in his work are lyrics from groups and musicians such as U2, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles and Bob Dylan. His studio is always overflowing with music and the floor is scattered with life-size canvases and stencils. Spiller works tirelessly and prefers to be alone in his own personal space, creating up to 50 works a year, many of which are in private collections and museums throughout the world, from Belgium to Korea.
The works of Picasso and Dubuffet, who were brought to his attention by his first teacher, Frank Auerbach, mainly influence the way Spiller works. The absorbed the intensity and attention to detail from Auerbach, which has lead to the way he works now. Picasso in particular is a strong leader in the way Spiller works due to his way of leaving the meaning open to interpretation from the viewer. Picasso’s bravery when it comes to surrealism has clearly rubbed off onto Spiller, allowing him to delve into the unthinkable when he combines cartoon characters with text that doesn’t necessarily relate to the way the character was portrayed in its original cartoon show.
Spiller prefers people to judge his art using their own feelings. As a child, you do not see a cartoon as being a form of pop art, you see Daffy Duck or Minnie Mouse; it is this simplistic, to the point attitude which Spiller loves to see people have with his canvasses. They can mean whatever you want them to mean, and often being young about it is the best way to view his work. He aims to make a difference to the way we view the world, even if people only stop and look at his work for 5 minutes. But what is perhaps most important with Spiller’s work is the fact that he has had fun in creating them, a rarity it may seem in today’s society.
The way his exhibition is laid out is like being told a story, each canvas holds many meanings that build on from each other, so by the time you reach the final canvas, you will have gone through a journey of representation. This will be different for every individual admiring Spiller’s paintings, leaving you with your own personal understanding of the artwork, embracing your mind as your journey ends. Each canvas comes equipped with a small hint of a title, yet gives the mind a chance to wander in its own unique direction. The exhibition itself is situated on Cork Street, famous for its links with the Royal Academy. Cork Street is known to be in abundance of fabulous works of art, so why should you decide to visit Spiller’s exhibition over someone else’s? Simply because the canvases inside will astound you, opening your mind to a new way of thinking.
The wide-open space of the gallery itself gives you more space to absorb each canvas and even if there are other people inside, you are given the freedom and space to construe your personal journey and explore each beautiful canvas as Spiller meant you to see it. This, mixed with the bright, natural, neutral lighting fully allows you to see each piece as pure as it was made, with no artificial lighting to alter the canvases’ appearance. Each intriguing piece of art will leave you astounded, refreshed and maybe even slightly nostalgic as you see the characters you knew as a child, brought to life on a canvas surrounded by lyrics, emotions and thoughts which leave you wondering what lead to Spiller bringing these together.
David Spiller’s exhibition is one that will be remembered for a great amount of time, whether that is because you are inspired by the way in which he creates his work, or simply because you are left bewildered by what the meaning could be behind them. The journey that happens inside the gallery is personal and this in itself adds to the awe of the building; you are unsure where the journey began or ended, but what you experienced in between will be retained in your mind for life.
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| "I could hold you for a million years" 2010 Acrylic and pencil on canvas |
The works of Picasso and Dubuffet, who were brought to his attention by his first teacher, Frank Auerbach, mainly influence the way Spiller works. The absorbed the intensity and attention to detail from Auerbach, which has lead to the way he works now. Picasso in particular is a strong leader in the way Spiller works due to his way of leaving the meaning open to interpretation from the viewer. Picasso’s bravery when it comes to surrealism has clearly rubbed off onto Spiller, allowing him to delve into the unthinkable when he combines cartoon characters with text that doesn’t necessarily relate to the way the character was portrayed in its original cartoon show.
Spiller prefers people to judge his art using their own feelings. As a child, you do not see a cartoon as being a form of pop art, you see Daffy Duck or Minnie Mouse; it is this simplistic, to the point attitude which Spiller loves to see people have with his canvasses. They can mean whatever you want them to mean, and often being young about it is the best way to view his work. He aims to make a difference to the way we view the world, even if people only stop and look at his work for 5 minutes. But what is perhaps most important with Spiller’s work is the fact that he has had fun in creating them, a rarity it may seem in today’s society.
 |
| "It's such a perfect day" 2010 Acrylic and pencil on canvas |
The wide-open space of the gallery itself gives you more space to absorb each canvas and even if there are other people inside, you are given the freedom and space to construe your personal journey and explore each beautiful canvas as Spiller meant you to see it. This, mixed with the bright, natural, neutral lighting fully allows you to see each piece as pure as it was made, with no artificial lighting to alter the canvases’ appearance. Each intriguing piece of art will leave you astounded, refreshed and maybe even slightly nostalgic as you see the characters you knew as a child, brought to life on a canvas surrounded by lyrics, emotions and thoughts which leave you wondering what lead to Spiller bringing these together.
 |
| "Be bop a lula" 2010 Acrylic and pencil on canv |
David Spiller’s exhibition is one that will be remembered for a great amount of time, whether that is because you are inspired by the way in which he creates his work, or simply because you are left bewildered by what the meaning could be behind them. The journey that happens inside the gallery is personal and this in itself adds to the awe of the building; you are unsure where the journey began or ended, but what you experienced in between will be retained in your mind for life.
References:
The independent Newspaper 2009: David Spiller - Tryin’ to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/david-spiller--tryinrsquo-to-get-to-heaven-before-they-close-the-door-1784332.html#mainColumn [Accessed 10/01/11]
Art Republic 2010: David Spiller biography. http://www.artrepublic.com/biographies/20-david-spiller.html [Accessed 09/01/11]
Colour, Rich 2007: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/collective/A29844390 [Accessed 09/01/11]
Pryor, John-Paul 2010:
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/8918/1/david-spiller-pours-out-his-heart [Accessed 10/01/11]
ArtLyst 2009: David Spiller FOREVER YOUNG : Beaux Arts – Exhibition: http://www.artlyst.com/events/david-spiller-forever-young-beaux-arts [Accessed 11/01/11]
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