Years of
Dust &
Dry
2013
Everything about this series spoke of process. Arranged so as to describe a kind of journey, from sparseness through to abundance, these artworks shifted from minimalist and monochromatic – with grain and tooth exposed – to complete, covered and heavily layered.
Cass was living in Brussels in 2011, when he started work on the exhibition. The city was the starting point for the series: the Jeu de Balle flea market, where vendors are mostly those contacted to pick up the leftovers of house clearances.
Since those first mornings spent in Brussels, at flea markets and in the city’s numerous antique and second hand shops – Petits Riens – Cass has aimed to push to the furthest extent the inclusion of found objects, and recycling more generally, within his practice. Throughout the creation of this exhibition Cass visited dozens of antique quarters in cities and towns around Europe: hunting down fairs, markets and brocantes.
Cass started this project painting upon simple planes: drawer-bases, boards, table-tops. But gradually began choosing increasingly more obscure items, and items of considerable age.
Each of the items on which Cass paints has endured a life that speaks of function, of use, of wear. See for example the pasted canvas scrolls that make Distance and Roll out the Ocean: these (now faded, discoloured and fragile) strips of hand-stenciled signage – once prominent on a coach face – revolved, rolled, and covered great distance, hour after hour, day after day for decades. Take the coffee grinders that make Five Lands, Five Lakes: basic and yet integral parts of daily rituals; likewise the printmakers' drawers, boxes, frames, jotters…
The opening Years of Dust & Dry artworks carry little or even no paint at all. James Scott Elliot’s Slate exhibits only light repetitive scratching. The final pair in the show, The Weight of Water, is the opposite. These paintings are heavy, entirely covered in layered oil paint. These are paintings in full colour, created (and kept) outdoors, strapped down, exposed.
The overriding point of these works concerns time and memory. Small snippets, memories, fragments of the everyday, of passing time. Cass intended for this series to read as “flickers” upon beaten planes. Planes of unknown – but definite – age.
Many works spoke of erosion. Cliff faces, coastal scenes: heavy, solid masses, the soon-victims of sea rise; battered much more than the simple function of a door or table.
Photography by Michael Wolchover & David Cass
Surface
2016
Surface was a collection of found-object based artworks celebrating recycling and repurposing: shown here in Gayfield Creative (a pop-up display in Edinburgh). Created using non-traditional methods and painted on a variety of surfaces, these repetitive and layered artworks are unified by their exclusive depiction of water. From heavily layered oil paintings created outdoors over several years, to miniature gouache artworks painted on matchboxes or drawers. These artworks speak of a circular economy: further enforced by layered, lapping, interwoven brushwork.
The exhibition featured both imagined imagery, and snapshots of water surveyed whilst travelling: many are abstracted visions of the English Channel – Mor breizh – that now so turbulent strip of water the artist must cross to reach France, Belgium, Spain and Italy, where materials and supports are sourced. From Paris’ plethora of antique shops to Brussels’ frequent flea-markets, everyday items are gathered and transformed in the studio. Many, then, are a homage to Europe: the union with which Cass is strongly bound.
These are artworks made from ordinary objects that speak of function and familiarity: tabletops, drawer bases, trunk lids, roadsigns, books, papers. Aged items and objects that describe a lifetime of use in their worn grains, now mirrored in the brushwork upon each piece, the obsessive documentation of a singular subject.
Surface was also the name given to a 2020 online presentation Cass produced in association with Art North magazine for Projectroom2020.
Degree
Show
2010
David Cass graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland with first class honours in June 2010. His degree show installation showcased his very first five found-object based paintings, alongside two sculptural wall-pieces. The series continues to this day.
Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh.
When the
Moon
Hits your
Eye
2011
Funded by the Royal Scottish Academy and Arts Trust Scotland, When The Moon Hits Your Eye was a group show of nine Royal Scottish Academy John Kinross Scholars, in Shoreditch Town Hall, London. Cass’ installation included film, photography, and small-scale paintings arranged under spotlight in the building’s cellar.
Shoreditch Town Hall, London
Edinburgh Art Festival
Solar Pavilion
2011
The Solar Pavilion was artist Karen Forbe’s vision. This unique structure was built in Edinburgh’s St. Andrew’s square. Film screenings took place throughout the Edinburgh Festival, including a pair of films Cass created in collaboration with artist Joseph Calleja entitled Out of Site.
St Andrew’s Square, Edinburgh
Right Place,
Time Left
2011
A collaborative exhibition between David Cass & Charlotte Nieuwenhuys; the two attended Edinburgh College of Art one year apart and began working together in Brussels in 2010 / 2011. Right Place, Time Left was an immersive exhibition in a loft space in central Brussels.
VDK, Brussels
Years of
Dust &
Dry
2013
“Years of Dust & Dry – an exhibition which demonstrates a maturing artistic vision, and further establishes Cass' reputation.”
This show saw an expansion and development of ideas; a journey where Cass pushed the boundaries of painting on recycled, found objects and broadened his subject matter to encompass new areas, real and imagined. The exhibition aimed to discuss sustainability; that art need not bring environmental cost. Watch a preview of the exhibition by DBonnarFilms.
The List ***** Art Rabbit *****
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Quest'Arno!
Quest'Arno!
2015
Paintings, drawings, overpaintings & film. Artworks that imagine & exaggerate scenes of inundation and destruction: the great Florence flood of November 1966. Inspired by photographic documentation – from press, postcards, residents' photographs – and from imagination, Cass painted scenes with antique paints, on antique papers, card & wood.
A touring exhibition created in collaboration with artist Stephen Kavanagh.
Studio Arts College International, Florence
Tonight Rain,
Tomorrow Mud
2015
Work for this exhibition started in August 2013: Cass re-visited Tuscany, and spent time in Lucca – spending days on the streets, drawing, in only pen on paper, with little paint, drawn to architectural features, combining a new-found desire to draw city-scenes with his attraction to the image of water. Cass has worked on and off in Florence since graduating in 2010.
Many of the flood related artworks that made up this show were literal depictions, however, taken as a whole, these pieces imagine and exaggerate – particularly in the case of his Overpaintings.
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Surface | Part I
2016
Created using non-traditional methods and painted on unconventional surfaces, these repetitive, layered artworks [are] unified by their exclusive depiction of water. From heavily layered oil paintings created outdoors over several years, to miniature gouache artworks painted on matchboxes or coffee grinder drawers.
These [are] artworks made from ordinary objects that speak of function and familiarity: tabletops, drawer bases, trunk lids, roadsigns, books & papers. Aged items and objects that describe a lifetime of use in their worn grains – a kind of repetition that is mirrored in the marks of each piece and the obsessive documentation of a singular subject.
Gayfield Creative, Edinburgh | An ongoing project
Pelàda
2017
These works – isolated details of Venice – at once celebrate the crumbling charm of Venice, whilst simultaneously raising concerns over its future, and the damage caused by the rising level of both the Adriatic and mass tourism. Read more on the dedicated webpage.
This was Cass' fourth solo exhibition with The Scottish Gallery, and opened the gallery's 175th anniversary year by referencing the rich history of Scottish artists who have chosen Venice as their muse.
The Scotsman ****
The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh
Connections
2017
As a celebration of Tatha Gallery’s third anniversary, they curated ‘an engaging mix of established and emerging artists, showcasing the best in Painting and Sculpture. They all, in their own way help us see and make a deeper connection with the world we live in, both internally and externally.’
The show featured eleven of David's sea paintings, two of which are his largest to date (The Weight of Water I & II). The idea was to show examples from each of Cass’ stylistic phases: early gouache and wood works; works on obscure surfaces; and fully-covered oils on reclaimed furniture.
Tatha Gallery, Fife
“David Cass conjoins the randomness of the snapshot with the picturesque allure of paint and paper textures, the blankness of surface with the evocativeness of names and numbers, and the stillness of nature morte with the promise of a Venice that might again become vibrant.”
“His images are fleeting glimpses, snapshots of memory, moments of reflection which ask the viewer to pause, appealing to our interior, our own deep memories, if only for a moment. His seascapes and city scenes speak of loss and decay as well as beauty and the artist’s observations are a journey into his past as well as the history of the surfaces he paints on; images of eloquence which can resonate with our own sensual histories. His distinctive tonality, assured mark making and clarity of aesthetic vision identify him as one of the finest and most exciting artists to emerge from Scotland in recent years.”
“David Cass’ exhibition ‘Tonight Rain, Tomorrow Mud’ made a significant contribution to our contemporary line-up in 2015. The body of work was inspired by the devastating floods which swept Florence in 1966. His paintings and drawings on antique objects manage to successfully navigate historical reference with an approach which is direct, meaningful and contemporary. ‘Tonight Rain, Tomorrow Mud’ was an exhibition which informed and inspired in equal measure, as well as a commercial success. Cass is a professional artist and I would heartily recommend him to any institution or gallery.”