David Whittaker 'A Beautiful Kind of Certainty

A Beautiful Kind of Certainty

D A V I D W H I T T A K E R

Everyday before I go to the studio I step into my local corner

shop to pick up supplies, drinks, nutri-grain bars, etc, and gaze

over the front covers of the newspapers. All the trouble and woe

is there in front of me. Another soldier dies; a murder; a young girl

falls in front of a train. All this seeps out and into the work I make.

For me it’s a way through, a comment on this massive industrial

species in ‘theatre’ (in battle / in war).

“To slither along the edge of a straight razor and survive” is

what Colonel Kurtz said. It’s what we are all doing anyway in our

working week, in our homes, in our beds and every time we look

in the mirror. We are what we are. I am what I am.

The past few years has brought with it an increase in the

confidence of the work, and, working within a group of artists on

the rise is that perfect freak on the ceiling moment.

David Whittaker. 2011

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The Devadasi English Landscape

oil and acrylic on canvas

79 x 79 cm

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When writing a catalogue essay my approach is often

one which adopts a measure of trepidation and a degree

of humility. I have never felt this more than with the

introduction to this exhibition by David Whittaker. It is

a watershed.

The two years between Whittaker’s last solo

exhibition; ‘A Brief Moment in the Exposure’, and this,

have been full of maturation. In fact – beginning with our

first show at Goldfish; ‘If This Life’, there has been an

evolution through a particularly momentous

period in his life. Whittaker’s transitions personally and

professionally have been marked and are clearly ongoing.

I am in no small way moved by Whittaker’s courage and

immensely gratified to be hosting this exhibition.

During the last two years Whittaker has been

adapting to diagnosis of gender dysphoria. This explicitly

provides an invaluable context. These circumstances

instill within the work a universally balanced viewpoint.

Quite a Little Freaker


79 x 79 cm

These paintings, primarily of the head, illustrate a

generic duality confined within the human

condition, both the physical and the emotional

manifested. Primal, archetypal male attributes transcend

into a feminine space. This fusion informs us and allows

us to contemplate where this positions our species. The

paintings represent the universal, metaphysical self. I

emphasise universal, it is important to do so, Whittaker’s

aim is always to capture an elusive ‘humanness’, to give

shape to all our complex lives as witnessed in the muddle

of the minds eye.

There is the visual language, then we have the poetic

language of the titles – both dance together. ‘The

Devadasi English Landscape’ references young Indian

girls who are officially married to God, it makes

an empathic statement about inescapable destiny,

freedom of choice and commitment, this

strongly echoes Whittaker’s commitment to art and

circumstance. ‘Quite a Little Freaker’, heralds this inner

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In Storm in Glorious


79 x 79 cm

acceptance - it’s ok to be different, we all are, beauty

should be sought within. Any feelings of personal

tragedy, entrapment or isolation (which we all feel) may

be present but are offered up as a firm shoulder to be

leant upon; as a voice of experience, understanding and

servility. The three small mirrors in the exhibition titled

‘When Trains Kill Poems’ is an urgent and moving piece

of work, which comments on those who internally

suffer, urging them to share their pain, to not be isolated

or lost to it. This is clearly deeply, empathetically felt

and evident throughout Whittaker’s oeuvre. I spoke to

someone recently who was transfixed by one of

Whittaker’s paintings, she then said that she knew

very little about art, but was struck by an inner beauty

emanating from the piece. I related to that, it seemed

such a simple, effective way to put it.

Whittaker has also recently relocated to a new studio

which has brought with it an increase in scale – the

suite of self portrait paintings are the largest and most

ambitious works made by Whittaker to date. The

fluidity of these pieces suggest a lake in which one

sees mankind’s reflection. Laying down a marker or

sending out an echo of this life, reflecting the messiness of

existence alongside inner utopian desire and potential.

With this exhibition I believe that Whittaker has forcibly

achieved what he has set out to do – to make something

monumental about the human condition, something that

has not been seen before. With integrity, fearlessness

and honesty, he has placed himself well and truly on the

front line. When we live in a day and age, where to do

so is such a scarce commodity, I feel it is worthy of both

recognition and embrace.

Perhaps it is best to sum up this introduction with

Whittaker’s own words; “We are born in this life to do

with it what we can. Of course we have the certainty of

death which cannot be escaped, but in the meantime we

must celebrate as much as possible”

Joseph Clarke. 2011

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When Trains Kill Poems

oil, acrylic, china marker and collage with lipstick, lipgloss and lipgloss

applicators, eye shadow compact, paper towel on free standing mirrors

32.5 x 18.5 cm each (triptych)

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Take Me Back to the Start

acrylic, collage and china marker on white card

21 x 29.5 cm each (triptych)

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The Fading Light


21 x 29.5 cm each (triptych)

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The Dreamtime

oil and acrylic on wood panel

61 x 61 cm

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Rivers of the Mouth


61 x 61 cm

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One Imagine that Sets the Bar


61 x 61 cm

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Swans


61 x 61 cm

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Shot Rings out on a Cornish Sky You are Free Tonight You are Free Tonight


61 x 61 cm

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Mares and Foals


61 x 61 cm

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Angels Don’t Come Cheap in this Life


61 x 61 cm

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Cover for Modern Painters


61 x 61 cm

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Kazuo Ohno Dancing as a Ghost


21 x 29.5 cm

Haywain


21 x 29.5 cm

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I Called you from the Hotel Phone


21 x 29.5 cm

Tether to my Art


21 x 29.5 cm

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Self Portrait One, The Silent Storm, 2011(The Broads, Shifting Thumder, Cool, Sound of a Distant Jet Way Above)


160 x 160 cm

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Self Portrait Two, Ghosts of the Dysphoria, 2011(The Glebe Farm, After Constable, Team of Horses Through the Valley, Langham, Deep in England)


160 x 160 cm

Self Portrait Three, Stations of the Sex, 2011(Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows, After Constable, Engines Taking on Water)


160 x 160 cm

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Self Portrait Four, Jewel Box, 2011(The Broads, Thundery Showers, Late Afternoon, A Young Girl in Reflection, Poetics of the Past Never Forgotten)


160 x 160 cm

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Towards an English Landscape

acrylic and china marker on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

Symphony for the Well Being

acrylic and collage on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

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Last Words

acrylic on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

The Christ

acrylic, collage and china marker on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

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Through the Silent Shot

acrylic and collage on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

The Nun

acrylic, china marker and linen net on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

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You Can Open Your Eyes Now

acrylic, collage and linen net on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

We are What we Are (Towards an English Landscape)

acrylic, collage and linen net on black card

20.5 x 29.5 cm

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DAVID WHITTAKER

Born in 1964. He is self taught.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2011 A Beautiful Kind of Certainty

2009 Brief Moment In The Exposure

2001 Gallery Excalibur, Stressa, Italy

2000 Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall

1998 Open Studio, St Ives, Cornwall



1992 Hyde Park Gallery, London

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

2010 The House of Fairy Tales, Millennium, St. Ives

London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington

2009 The Lock Up, London

Mixed Exhibition, Millennium


NSA Exhibition, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2008 Winter Exhibition, Millennium


A Fine Line, Artonomy, Truro

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2005 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London

2004 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London

2003 Debut Show, Gallery One O Two, London

Inaugural St. Ives Festival Show, The Mariners Gallery, St. Ives

2002 Christmas Show, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall 2001

Show for Reuters, Britart, Brick Lane, London

2000 One Foot Two Show, Mafuji Gallery, London

1999 Hidden Art (collaboration of workshops and studios in London)

Millennium Exhibition, Mafuji Gallery, London

Summer Show, Wimbledon Art Group, London

Selected Artists, Raw Art Gallery, London

Gallery Show, New Millennium Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall

1998 Summer Show, Highgate Fine Art, London

1994 Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, California, USA

1993 Gallery Show, Salthouse Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall

PUBLICATIONS

2011 A Beautiful Kind of Certainty catalogue, published by Millennium

2009 Brief Moment In The Exposure catalogue, published by Millennium

2006 Dictionary of Artists in Britain since 1945, David Buckman

All work made from 2010 - 2011

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘A Beautiful Kind of Certainty’ by David Whittaker

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publishers

Printed by Active Colour (www.activecolour.co.uk)

ISBN 978-1-905772-44-5

S t r e e t - a n - P o lS t . I v e s C o r n w a l l0 1 7 3 6 7 9 3 1 2 1m a i l @ m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u kw w w . m i l l e n n i u m g a l l e r y. c o . u k

M I L L E N N I U M

Footfalls echo in the memoryDown the passage which we did not take

Towards the door we never openedInto the rose-garden

T. S. Eliot. Burnt Norton

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David Whittaker 'A Beautiful Kind of Certainty