David Simpson

Simpson has explored varieties of abstraction since the early 1950s, enjoying acknowledgement and success in the art world. In 1963 he was chosen by New York’s Museum of Modern Art curator, Dorothy Miller, to appear in what turned out to be the last in her legendary series of group shows of contemporary American art. (Reinhardt was another painter included.) And in 1964 he appeared in Clement Greenberg’s famous exhibition Post Painterly Abstraction at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. At that time Simpson painted landscape-derived abstractions and, in the 70s, he practiced a reductive but relational mode of abstraction. But with his discovery of a new acrylic medium in 1987, he was able to embrace finally and successfully the monochrome’s radicality.

Simpson uses an acrylic paint with interference properties. The paint is composed of titanium dioxide electronically coated with mica particles. Simpson tends to mix complementaries, but admits that orange and blue also work together well. He also mixes black acrylic with the interference pigments, finding that a little bit of black helps the colour jump out. Interference pigments cause optical effects that are comparable to iridescence. When you look at the painting from one angle, you receive one set of colour sensations. When you shift your position, you get another. As you move back and forth in front of the canvas – and the paintings make you want to do so – the experience changes. The change of light also dramatically affects the optical experience, and the play of light across the canvas surface is subtly kinetic.
See biography

Works on canvas

Installations

Videos

Works on canvas


  • Ryder 6, 1995

    acrylic on canvas
    15 x 15 cm


  • Untitled 1, 2005

    Acrylic on canvas,
    15 x 15 cm


  • DOT, 2005

    acrylic on canvas
    15 x 15 cm


  • Small Universe, 2003

    Acrylic on canvas,
    15,5 x 15,5 cm


  • Indigo Trail, 2013

    Acrylic on canvas
    86 x 86 cm


  • Little lava, 2003

    Acrylic on canvas,
    15,5 x 15,5 cm


  • RESURECTION SHIFT, 1996

    Acrylic on canvas,
    30,5 x 20,4 cm


  • C-Sharp, 2005

    acrylic on canvas
    152,2 x 152,2 cm


  • Storm and Silence, 2001

    acrylic on canvas
    183 x 183 cm


  • Ides of May, 2014

    Acrylic on canvas,
    101,5 x 101,5 x 6,5 cm


  • Rosie Out Look, 2019

    Acrylic on canvas,
    86 x 86 x 4,5 cm


  • Dayglow, 2012

    Acrylic on canvas,
    122 x 122 cm


  • Rococò Ellipse, 2006

    Acrylic on canvas,
    177 x 60 x 5 cm


  • Loco Plum, 2001

    acrylic on canvas
    114,5 x 81,5 x 6,5 cm


  • An Elysium, A Beau Monde, 2011

    Acrylic on canvas,
    190 x 140 cm


  • CALLA LILY, 2021

    Acrylic on canvas,
    30,5 x 23 cm


  • BLUE BELLS, 2021

    Acrylic on canvas,
    30,5 x 23 cm


  • Eccentric polyplane #7, 1984

    acrylic on canvas on wood
    30 x 30,2 x 5 cm


  • Tri-square VII - converted - 0327S, 1986

    acrylic on canvas on wood
    38 x 57 x 5 cm


  • Eccentric monoplane: red shift - 0326S, 1984

    acrylic on canvas on wood
    37 x 46 x 4,5 cm

Installations


  • Summer Show, 2016

    installation view
    Studio la Città, Verona


  • Wall toys for adults, 2016

    installation view
    Studio la Città, Verona


  • Installation view, 2016

    Studio la Città, Arte Fiera, Bologna


  • IN-FINITUM, 2009

    installation view
    Palazzo Fortuny, Venezia


  • Installation view, 2008

    Studio la Città, Verona


  • Installation view, 2001

    Studio la Città, Verona


  • Codici. David Simpson - Marmi Romani

    installation view, 2021

    News

  • The  exhibition CODICI. David Simpson – Roman Marbles opens in the gallery on Saturday 9 October 2021 at 11 am., curated by Marco Meneguzzo. Exhibition running until November 27, 2021.