San Francisco painter David Maxim (showing watercolors for the 14th exhibit in the room for paper) has been involved with the Bay Area art scene since the early ‘70s, exhibiting regularly, most recently last year at David Cunningham Projects. He has advanced on a broad front, from off-the-wall co... Read more
San Francisco painter David Maxim (showing watercolors for the 14th exhibit in the room for paper) has been involved with the Bay Area art scene since the early ‘70s, exhibiting regularly, most recently last year at David Cunningham Projects. He has advanced on a broad front, from off-the-wall constructions to portraits of mountains to whimsical paintings that place historical painters in imagined landscapes. In all his endeavors, he has shown himself to be an incredible draftsman. I went to his studio to pick out work, and we spent the entire afternoon pouring over portfolio after portfolio of drawings, all good, dating back years. When I came upon this series of staged figures, I felt we had the body of work that encapsulated Maxim’s many interests. The source figures are actually sculptures by the artist, swathed in rags, serving as mannequins but more so, as bridges between the high relief constructions Maxim is perhaps best known for and his classically developed paintings such as the mountains he exhibited at DCP. The studies echo his ties to the Bay Area figurative tradition, to theater, and to a sense of personal freedom that has never allowed Maxim to be limited to a single medium or mode. I’m very happy to be showing this highly personal body of work.
