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Galen Davison
Galen Davison first experimented with his own talent a year after exploring the art galleries of Europe with his grandmother, in 1988, at the impressionable age of eighteen. Winning a scholarship to the University of Victoria, BC, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, (with honours), under the tutelage of Vickky Alexander, whose most memorable advice, Davison recalls, was not to "lose oneself in the 'premise' of the work, but simply to let it happen, instinctively." Perhaps a gentle rebel at heart, the young artist accepted his assignments, but put a twist on them, in order to satisfy his own need for expression. "I remember being told to do a painting," he admits, almost shyly, "and asking the instructor if I could do something sculptural, instead - I treated the sculpture (composed of steel fluted table legs from 1950's furniture) as if it were a painting." Not merely successful, the piece earned an honourable mention for the much coveted Helen Pitt Visual Arts Canada Award (1993) for the most promising artist to graduate from a BC university.
Further inspired by artists such as Jasper Johns, The Latvian/American Abstract Expressionist Painter Mark Rothko, and the philosophizing Willem de Kooning, Davison's flair for the abstract developed into a complex, mixed media expressionism. His ability to synthesize the 'rules' of sculpture and painting, combined with his natural tactility, and his fascination with the idea of ordered space, moved the artist beyond the regular plane of "Contemporary Art." His is a uniquely symbolic, almost poetic world, where texture, space, thoughts, and colour unite to make an image that is visually captivating and mentally challenging. "It's not about painting or sculpture," Davison insists, "it's about what's not there - I'm trying to reach a level in my work where I can give something away to the viewer...but not everything. I want there to be a challenge, not just to 'understand' the physical process - the action of layering various media - but to recognize the thought processes."
As he applies cut metal and plaster to his latest mahogany panel, allowing the texture to dictate the shape and form of the finished piece, Davison explains how he has long had a "struggle with order - even nightmares about balance." His works, commonly segmented, linear, echo this need for spatial control, but the discerning eye notices a familiar theme - line - running through his more recent works. "The segments create the space," he says, "and prescribe organization. The translucent colours, on the other hand, give energy and rhythm."
Another new aspect of works in progress, representational features are appearing, subtly at first, but becoming more confident; having already admitted that he feels awkward with representational painting, this, too, seems a projection, as Leonard Bernstein said of Beethoven's manuscripts, "of a tremendous inner battle."
At his own Yates Street venue, The Upstairs Studio Gallery, which opened in 2001, Davison's talent was showcased in his inaugural solo exhibition, "Torn Together." The paintings range from the subtle contrast of pink and grey, to the evocative, rich hues of ancient stained glass, from the intentionally structured, to the whimsically relaxed.
Happily married, with three children, living near the ocean in Victoria he paints at his easel in the window of his hillside studio. Galen Davison continues his journey of exploration, forging his reputation as one of Victoria's leading artists.
