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This exhibition is not a co-operation of two artists but rather a dialogue between two artists who are from a same generation, having some similarities in their work and at the same time showing very different focus on our world of today. David Neirings and David Holland are two young artists who expresses themselves primarily in painting. Both are using language and text in their colourful works. A lot of their works can be considered as sculptures.
Neirings paints surfaces on both sides and places them leaning against a wall or standing free in space, some of the objects become more sculpture-like because of their volume and the space-impact. A painted or taped grid on floor and/or wall links the works together.
Holland paints with traditional materials such as acrylic paint for his portraits and text works but then he also uses household paint. For his last paintings on spheres markers to write a repetition of words like 'unity' and 'love'. This sets up a dialogue with the portraits and the text paintings.
These two artists come from a generation that is used to looking globally through the channels of the world wide web. They communicate, observe and network with internet. They live in a world that is becoming easier to access but increasingly complex. This paradox we all have to accept in order not to be left behind.
David and David take elements and symbols of our interactive and controlled world and create a new language with it. In essence, a new contemporary pop-art. Horror and joy are never far away.
David HOLLAND (GB) is fascinated with molecular structures, human relationships and the associative powers of language. With his portraits he invigorates the debate between science and religion, and he touches upon humanitarian and compassionate notions. The surfaces of the paintings have been built up with layers of flat colour and resolve in a frenzied array of spots of pure colour that lead the viewer into the mind of the subject.
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The contortions of surface colour that make up the 3-D space paintings allude to planetary objects or landscapes of the mind. The paint is applied at random on to the sphere allowing chance and gravity to fuse and for thoughts and emotions to be revealed. There is a playfulness reminiscent of a child's beach ball.
The word 'unity' spirals repeatedly in coloured marker pen on a sphere. This sets up a dialogue with the portraits and the text paintings. In his text-based paintings circular brushmarks of vibrant colour oscillate to emphasize meaning and emotive associations within the text. The letters have been sporadically inverted, reversed and mirrored to imply a humourous sub-text. The text elements refer to the entertainment of the webworld and new telecom: sexual kicks, social contacts, games, turbo-language and new abbreviations. The babytalk and the high tech of language.
David NEIRINGS (°1972, B) derives his material from the visual vocabulary of the world of transit zones, barcodes, credit cards, road signs, marks and logos, which he rearranges into new patterns. He designs environments that refer to airports, racetracks and recreational areas. His background as a graffiti artist and his friendship with artists like Keith Haring and Carl Andre, together with his lively interest in club culture have been the influences that brought him to a new and remarkable visual language.
His freestanding or leaning giant credit cards seem to be perfectly mechanically made, although the useless account-numbers and imperfections transform them into painted sculptures. The combination of seduction, beauty and imperfection warns us for a danger, they contain invisible information. These playful sculptures become perversely charged: what do these cards tell us and why? It is quite ironic how the untouchable virtual world can expose what we do, who we are and who we pretend to be.
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In his 'Airstallation' sculptures, these smooth sculptures are painted with industrial primer of which the colours became the personal trademarks of multinationals as Coca-Cola and BMW. Again, the artist is playing two sides. Seductive and beautiful as well as threatening another story arises...