david marshak

alright so admittedly putting david marshak on "hamilton makes art" is a bit of a stretch since as far as i'm aware he hasn't shown in hamilton yet....but has had many shows in toronto....we'll just say i included him on this blog because he would be on my wishlist to show up in a hamilton gallery sometime soon. as his artist statement clearly states he doesn't seem to enjoy being asked about art which is actually something i really understand... sometimes you have to relate to the idea of "it just is"....so needless to say i've opted not to ask him the top 5 questions......although i still secretly want to.

BIOGRAPHY
David Marshak was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1970. While attending The Ontario College of Art he met several of the other members of the artist's collective DRAWNONWARD. They spent 1992 together in Florence, Italy for the year and have been traveling, working and showing together ever since. David has had several successful solo shows in St. John's and Toronto. He currently lives and paints in Cannington, Ontario.

ARTIST STATEMENT
There's nothing more repellent to an average painter than expounding on your work and why you do it. Although I speak for myself, I know this to be true with other friends and painters. To intellectualize what is, for the most part at least, landscape painting, seems to be the role of an art critic or at very least a painter who defines his work in more esoteric terms.

I don't remember too many campfire discussions about why exactly we were painters, or artists. I imagine more was said about how great it was to indeed, BE a painter. How great to be out in the wild land somewhere far away from any trace of man made edifice. How great to be among like minded and willfully inclined people. How great to be able to approach your office in the morning at the edge of a lake or a cliff with your paintbox briefcase in hand. And how to great to come home after a long trip and settle in to the studio work that follows travel, working in a rhythm that any office worker would envy.

I paint because it's what I've always wanted to do. I don't think that much about why I do it. As for what I paint, it follows that I don't analyze that too much either. Whatever catches my eye, intrigues me and sparks a feeling of immediacy. Whatever excites me.

Source: republished with permission
david marshak