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David Davenport

David Davenport grew up in Williamston, NC and is inspired by the rural landscape he remembers and still explores when visiting his family farm in Bear Grass, NC. His painting process combines both realism and abstraction to capture the effects of light on the rural landscape. David’s paintings explore the atmospheric beauty of the landscape’s barns, fields and abandoned buildings and emphasize the effects of light on these subjects.  He is also fascinated by the stories and mysteries stored within the old barn structures and explores this theme in many of his paintings. He sometimes places the viewer inside the structure looking out - leaving much to the viewer’s imagination. David often returns to the same subject multiple times in varying light and seasonal conditions, creating small studies to experiment with techniques and better acquaint himself with the subject (to absorb it). Some of the works are imagined and others are loose interpretations of the actual place enhanced by David’s memory and imagination. David attempts to share an intimate sense of place, one that allows the viewer to infuse his or her memories and experiences.

Davenport received a BFA from East Carolina University and started his professional career as an Art Director in advertising, eventually making his way to work at Doyle, Dane, Bernbach in NYC. During this time, he attended the Art Student League and the Studio School of New York (in Paris) and rekindled his desire for painting. David received a Teaching Fellowship from the Department of Fine Arts at University of Maryland and graduated with a MFA in painting. He has received numerous art awards and fellowships including the Skowhegan School of Painting Scholarship Award and the Yaddo Fellowship in Painting. More recently, David has attended several art residencies, including Vermont Studio Center and the Plein Air Invitational in the Adirondacks. His work is in private and corporate collections and exhibited in solo and group shows in galleries and museums throughout NC. David is a full-time painter and maintains a studio in Durham, NC.