Vera David

Artist statement

What makes me paint?
The sheer joy of doing it. It gives me boundless pleasure in more ways than one: sensually, emotionally, and intellectually.
It gives me total satisfaction. It gives me a sense of liberty. It allows me to express anything, and everything.
Or at least, it provides me with an opportunity to try.
I want to share my joy of painting with you.
I am also a visual storyteller. I have a lot to say. Of course, I am aware that there may well be a discrepancy
between what the painter intends to express and what the viewer absorbs.
My paintings act as doors. Enter one and you will be transported into my world without ever having left your own. Will you take the mantle of Orpheus, or that of Alice? The choice is yours. Feel free to discover every nook and cranny. Should you find the very interpretation I intended, we obviously have something in common, and that makes me happy. Should you happen upon an interpretation that I never thought of, it is fulfilling to know that you have found something special to you, and that makes me happy too.

Deep is the well of the past. There are so many secrets buried in the depths of human experience. I am interested in origins, in individual and collective memory, the traces left by time. What can we achieve for ourselves, what can we achieve in the world? What can be passed on in the relatively short span that is human life? Emotions, relations, objects. What remains of all these as they pile up layers upon layers well beyond our life? Or in the eyes and recollections of those living next to us? All the beautiful and ugly traces of destruction and reconstruction. Paintings feed on memories.

They are influenced by time, by dreams, by pain, by joy, by fear, by love.
I come from Central Europe (Hungary). I carry with me the loaded baggage of judeo-christian idealism. I was present at the collapse of the Berlin Wall, I went to Morocco to discover a different culture and found myself, and I came to Montreal to be part of the incredible caleidoscope of global existence that infuses this city with individual and collective histories from all over.
All these influences, all these memories and experiences are simultaneously present in my mind when I paint. They guide my hand into reproducing the layers of translucent, yet concealing colours you'll find in my oil paintings. The same approach characterizes my electro-images, as well as my works produced on collated paper, where the aspect of layering is present both in the material and the method of painting.
I studied art and painting in Budapest, computer graphics in Berlin and Japan, the works of European old masters in Italy and the Netherlands, as well as works of great masters in the workshops of Casablanca, Essaouira, and Fez.
I constantly seek out light, which sometimes comes from afar, but is never totally absent. I do not believe in a strict division of figurative and abstract modes of representation. Just as we would never accept to give up our reason for the sake of our emotions, or vice versa, I believe it is unreasonable to expect exclusive choices in the modes of representation.
Painting is struggling. Struggling with having to arrive at decisions at every stage throughout the creative process - but who says painting is easy?

CURRICULUM VITAE

EDUCATION 1979 - 1980 M. F. A. Hungarian University of Fine Arts Budapest, Hungary
1974 - 1979 B. F. A. Hungarian University of Fine Arts Budapest, Hungary
B. Ed. (Fine Arts and Art History) Hungarian University of Fine Arts Budapest, Hungary
1970 - 1972 Diploma in Applied Arts, Szasz F. College of Applied Arts Budapest, Hungary

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 1992 Workshop in visual arts Koerthoven, Netherlands
1989 -1991 Supervised studies in media arts Berlin ,Germany
1982 Resident artist at artist colony Szolnok, Hungary

GRANTS 1995 - 1996 Morocco
1988 Japan
1985 -1986 Belgium
1975 URSS

SYMPOSIA 1993 Symposium Intermedia, paper presented: "What is electro-image?"
Budapest, Hungary
Hungarian University of Fine Arts and ARS Electronica Linz

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 1996 - 1999 Teacher of Art, Institut Francais de Casablanca Casablanca, Morocco
1997 - 1999 Advisor in exhibition design, Musée du Judaisme Marocain
Casablanca, Morocco
1997 - 1998 Professor of Graphic Design, Art'Com, École de Design et de Communication Casablanca, Morocco
1996 Conception and design of exhibition space of Philips-Maroc, SITEB Casablanca, Morocco
1995 - 1997 Teacher of Art, Carrefour des Arts, Espace Liberté, Casa Accueil Casablanca, Morocco
1993 - 1995 Teacher of Art and Art History, Corvin Matyas High School Budapest, Hungary
1994 Mural work of art (fresco) of 100m2, Sport Centre Hajduszoboszlo, Hungary
1985 Bronze relief for Internationales Festival der Filmhochschulen Munchen Munchen, Germany
1982-1984 Teacher of Art and Art History, Horvath Laszlo High School Budapest, Hungary

MEDIA COVERAGE KHATIB, Abdeslam. L'autre dimension, Al Bayane, Morocco, 1998
KENESSEI, Andras. Des toiles d'art électro-image, Libération, Morocco, 1998
À la découverte de l'art électro-image, Le Matin du Sahara et du Maghreb, Morocco, 1998
Une hongroise au Maroc, La Vie économique, Morocco, 1998
T.C., Peinture xérographique, Maroc hebdo International, Morocco, 1998
KHATIB, Abdeslam. Vera David: Art électro-image, Al Bayane, Morocco 1997
CHEIKH, Abdellah. Un panorama de la création artistique à Essaouira, Al Bayane, Morocco, 1996
Le matin, Vera David expose au Musée des Oudayas, Morocco, 1995
TV 2M Maroc, Interview, Morocco, 1995
EL KASRI, Hoceïne. Les icones de la fée électricité, L'opinion, Morocco, 1995
XURIGUERA, Gerard. Vera David, Demeures et Chateaux Arts et gens, Paris, France 1995
SZOMBATHY, Balint. David Vera Art electro-image, Balkon, Budapest, Hungary, 1994
Petofi Radio, Interview, Budapest, Hungary, 1994
Amigraphics, Works by Vera David, Budapest, Hungary, 1991
KARPATI, Tamas. An Auctioneer's Discovery, Daily News, Budapest, Hungary, 1988
KENESSEI, Andras. Vera David, Painter, Magyar Hirlap, Budapest, Hungary, 1984

Contact info
e-mail: taiga13@cam.org

http://www.flamencomontreal.com/veradavid/index.html

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS Hungarian Artists Association (Elected member)
National Association of Hungarian Artists
Hungarian Painters Association
RAAV - Regroupement des Artistes en Arts Visuelles du Québec

LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English, French, German, Hungarian