East County artist Richard ChauDavis is an abstract artist whose work is now being featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art’s exhibition “More Disruption, Representational Art,” on display through Sept. 15. ChauDavis lives in the San Carlos neighborhood next to Cowles Mountain.
This exhibition explores the dynamic shifts in representational art that has been “disrupted” by abstraction, web-based imagery, and sociopolitical concerns in response to contemporary life. Through various mediums and styles, this exhibition of over 50 works offers a narrative on how contemporary issues influence artistic expression. Each piece showcases how today’s artists must find the combination of subjects and individual hybrid styles that engage their artistic imagination, resulting in works that energize the flux of contemporary representational art.
The Oceanside Museum of Art is located at 704 Pier Way in Oceanside. Visit oma-online.org for more information.
ChauDavis has two works in the exhibition titled “Train Play, 2-1-2024” and “Playing with Trains, 11-4-2023.” Both works are created with acrylic, micron pens, and an archival underprint.
ChauDavis said he began his artwork after graduating from the College of Creative Studies at University of California Santa Barbara, while working another fulltime job.
“During that time, I had a thing going on called Dark Space,” he said. “Which these two pieces are part of. I would photograph people as they move slowly. I painted two garages black over the course of 20 years. That allowed me to get the figures standing out prominently. But you also get a blurred motion, which is fun. I have a huge amount of those images.”
ChauDavis said his work tends to “spiral,” so he came back to some of them when he came back to painting again. He graduated with a degree in drawing and painting.
“When I came back into these blurry black and white pictures, I was using micron pens and acrylics, and that is how I created the look. I also varnished them. They are very rich when you look at them. The colors are nice. They have ink qualities and photographic qualities, which is nice to mix. A lot of times, I think art is dealing in contrast in one image,” he said.
ChauDavis said you can go to painting into the reality of a photograph. He said abstract art is different from people who look at it and he is working on it.
“I do my art because I love doing it,” he said. “People look at it because they enjoy looking at it. The two do not always meet up. Those two pieces, when you look at them up close at the museum, are a lot of fun. You will notice in the background, working with paint and things to give them different textures. Then focusing on making the [train] track, which was black and white, giving them color, is the process for me. It tends to abstract things. Kind of like when you scribble on things, it abstracts it.”
ChauDavis said in going to the museum, it is filled with wonderful art. He said the venue is nothing like you can find in East County, as a hybrid museum and art gallery. He said the museum is full of wonderful exhibitions.
ChauDavis will have work on display at The Studio Door’s “LibeRATED Forms” running Aug. 8-31, with a reception on Aug. 10 from 2-5 p.m. LIBERATED® FORMS 2024 is a celebration of diversity and desire.
This is a new exhibition for the gallery. The exhibition represents body and sex positive visual art. The exhibition is meant as a safe space for dialogue and discussion surrounding contemporary experiences of sex and sexuality.
The Studio Door is located at 3867 4th Avenue is San Diego. Visit thestudiodoor.com for more information.
