ARTIST

David FeBland

City Secrets | by Stephanie Hentschel

 

A group of costumed people runs hurriedly through the picture from left to right in front of a city backdrop. Our gaze, eager to follow the fast movement, is immediately stopped by a woman dressed in black with black hair, high boots and a yellow bag, who is also walking fast in the opposite direction, abruptly interrupting the flowing rhythm of the composition. Surprisingly, it is not the people dressed in funny costumes that raise questions in our minds. It quickly seems clear that this must be a scene in a carnival. Why else would a group of people move about the streets in this way. But who is the woman? Where is she going? Why is she not following the others?

David FeBland is undoubtedly a contemporary storyteller. Like many other artists of our time, he is always in search of new impressions, taken directly from life, which especially the big cities produce. It is frightening, curious, but also harmonious incidents, which he captures and only from his memory in the studio in his works.
It is not only life in the metropolis of New York, in which he has been firmly rooted for decades and which alone provides ample inspiration, that drives him in his constant exploration of human interaction. Various trips to Europe or to completely foreign cultures also provide him with new material for his stories. The individual as an individual in a pulsating encounter of the most diverse people, the loss of privacy, the ever-growing demand to integrate into a society that is already closely interwoven; all these are themes that drive him in his search for new motifs and which, as he himself says, seem to be equivalent on almost all continents.
David FeBland thus hits more than ever the nerve of the time – a time that is determined by intercultural exchange, the moving together of the most diverse people, who no longer experience any explicit separation through national borders and therefore result in an exciting and inspiring entity, especially in the metropolises of this world.
FeBland always brings the viewer very close with his pictures; lets him participate in the curious and exciting scenes of the big city, but never completely clarifies the events. He leaves room for the viewer to continue thinking about the story. In this way, the viewer also moves to the observation post for a moment to catch a quick glimpse.
The world as a stage set, the people living on it as main actors or extras, their interaction as a modern theater production. Without a doubt, David FeBland could be seen as a contemporary counterpart to the artists of the 19th century, who were equally interested in the close observation of their surroundings, of modern city life and the people acting in it. While these artists, however, focused their attention on the general, the ordinary urban citizen and thus offered the then strengthening bourgeoisie a platform to present their everyday life,

in David FeBland’s work it is the cultural minorities or other extraordinary people whose behavior among and with each other he studies in detail and captures on canvas for the viewer.
As much room for interpretation as the viewer is offered, one can by no means expect to see real or purely objective observational studies in FeBland’s pictures. His works emerge from memory and are heightened in their dramaturgy by invented details. Particularly through the targeted use of light reflections and contrasts, both with regard to the color scheme and the composition of the motifs, tension-laden compositions are created, which the artist has carefully thought through in terms of both form and content. It is precisely here that the great difference between his painting and that of the Ashcan School seems to lie, a group of artists at the beginning of the 20th century, which has already been frequently mentioned as FeBland’s thematic point of orientation, but whose artists were only interested in a distanced, real reproduction of city life.
For the most part, it is snapshots that David FeBland translates into his paintings with strong colors, from surprising angles that are reminiscent of the medium of photography. And almost always there is movement to be seen, which heightens the respective pictorial event to a dynamic climax and thus reinforces the impression of the one, spontaneous, fleeting moment.
With the help of these different means, the artist equally tries to translate a captivating scene into painting as well as to fathom what is hidden behind it. In a fascinating way, he himself tries to unravel many a mystery, while at the same time creating new riddles in his paintings for the viewer to discover. This combination of realistic, detailed sketches of pictorial events, which the viewer takes directly from the works, and the implied mood, which involves him beyond that and invites him to think further, is one of the fundamental contents of David FeBland’s art. Works are created that especially reflect urban life, its people and their interactions in great detail, thus opening up new points of view to the viewer; sometimes a little intensified by the artist’s imagination, but never completely detached from reality.

BIOGRAPHY

1949
born in London, England

1971
University of Cincinnati, BA/Political Science

1974
University of Manchester, Great Britain/City Planning and Design

1977 – 78
University of Virginia, MA/Landscape Architecture
School of Fine Arts

1991
Pratt Institute Lecture Series for Professional Studies

1996
Marywood College Graduate Studio Art Program

1998
Fordham University Department of Urban Psychology
Southern Connecticut State University / Department of Sociology (Cultural Anthropology)

1949
born in London, England

1971
University of Cincinnati, BA/Political Science

1974
University of Manchester, Great Britain/City Planning and Design

1977 – 78
University of Virginia, MA/Landscape Architecture
School of Fine Arts

1991
Pratt Institute Lecture Series for Professional Studies

1996
Marywood College Graduate Studio Art Program

1998
Fordham University Department of Urban Psychology
Southern Connecticut State University / Department of Sociology (Cultural Anthropology)

David FeBland

WORKS //  INFO //  BIOGRAPHY //  EXHIBITIONS  

WORKS

EXHIBITIONS

Solo Exhibitions

2020s

2022
Britt Design Group, Austin, Texas, USA
Rootless Cosmopolitans, Galerie Friedmann-Hahn, Berlin
Relics of Empire, 9 The Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

2021
Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main
Happy Motoring, The Mayo Clinic, Phoenix

2020
Galerie Franz Pedersen, Horsens, Dänemark

2010s

2019
From NYC With Love V, Galerie Friedmann-Hahn, Berlin

2018
New Works, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main
„Stories, Red & Blue, Susan Calloway Fine Art, Washington, DC
„Beauty, Space & Time”, McLarry Modern, Santa Fe, NM
AAF, New York, NY

2016
Galerie Friedmann-Hahn, Berlin
George Billis Gallery, New York
Kunstverein Weinheim, Weinheim
The Art Center at Highland Park, IL

2015
„Travel Inside”, Galerie Barbara von Stechow

2014
„Four Days in LA”, George Billis Gallery/LA
From New York City with Love…, Galerie Friedmann-Hahn, Berlin

2013
„Spring & Greenwich“, Panter & Hall Gallery, London, England
„City Secrets“, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland

2012
„Bringing it Home“, George Billis Gallery, New York City, NY
„Loving New York“, Galerie Friedmann-Hahn, Berlin, Deutschland
„Running in Places“, Rodger LaPelle Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
„Pursuit of Happiness“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC

2010
„Roads Taken & Not“, Panter & Hall Gallery, London, England
Mason Murer Fine Arts, Atlanta, GA
„Searching for Paradise“, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland

2000s

2009
„Whirlaway Tales“, Glave-Kocen Gallery, Richmond, VA
Mayer Fine Art, Norfolk, VA
Rodger LaPelle Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2008
„Entdeckung“, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland
„The Year of Sincerity“, Panter & Hall Gallery, London, England
„Mystical City“, Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück, Deutschland
Anna Bondonio Camandona Art Gallery, Alba, Italien
„New Work“, Brenda Taylor Gallery, New York City, NY
„Transported“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC

2006
„Foreign Subjects“, Panter & Hall Gallery, London England
Galerie Thilo Winterberg, München, Deutschland
Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland
„collide-A-scope“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC

2005
Galerie Barbara von Stechow, zu Gast in der Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf, Deutschland
Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland

2004
„New York Impressions“, Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland
„Promise Land“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC

2003
„Streetwalkers“, Pringle Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
„Moving Pictures“, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX

2002
Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland
„Recent Paintings“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC
Lawrenceville/Hutchins Gallery, Princeton, NJ
„Urban Dynamics“, Pringle Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2001
„Contemporary Artist Series“, Museum of the Southwest, Midland, TX
Fraser Gallery,  Washington DC
„Still/Life“, Woodward Gallery, New York City, NY (2 Künstler)
„Twist & Shout“, Modlin Center for the Arts, University of Richmond, VA (Installation)

2000
Barn Gallery, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN
„Urban Aesthetic“, Bender Fine Arts, Atlanta, GA (2 Künstler)
Carnegie Visual+Performing Arts Center, Covington, KY

1990s

1999
„City of Rhythm“, Arts Club of Washington, Washington DC
Carriage Barn Art Center, New Canaan, CT (2 Künstler)
„Running Commentaries“, Caelum Gallery, New York City, NY
„Splitting Atoms“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC

1998
„City Stories“, Caelum Gallery, New York City, NY
„In and Out of New York“, Fulton Street Gallery, Troy, NY
„Contemporary Realism in the Painting of David FeBland“, Pearl Conard Gallery,
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

1997
„Enclosed Cultures“, MMC Gallery, Marymount Manhattan College, New York City, NY (2 Künstler)

Group Exhibitions

2010s

2018
Art New York, NYC, NY (Galerie Barbara von Stechow)

2016
Art Copenhagen, Galeri Franz Pedersen

2015
Kunst Zürich 2015 (Galerie Barbara von Stechow)
Art Cologne, Köln (Galerie Franz Pedersen)
Art Copenhagen, Kopenhagen, Dänemark (Galerie Franz Pedersen)
Art Herning, Dänemark (Galerie Franz Pedersen)

2011
„Buildings of New York“, George Billis Gallery, New York City, NY

2010
Red Dot Art Fair, New York City, NY
„New York Memories“, George Billis Gallery, New York City, NY
Toronto International Art Fair, Projects Gallery, Toronto, Kanada
Boston Art Fair, Fraser Gallery, Boston, MA

2000s

2009
„The Art of the Motorcycle“, Portsmouth Museum of Art, Portsmouth, VA
Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, TX
Art Copenhagen, Kopenhagen, Dänemark
Boston Internation Art Fair, Boston, MA
art KARLSRUHE, Karlsruhe, Deutschland
AAF Contemporary, New York City, NY
Red Dot Art Fair, Miami, FL

2008
Art Santa Fe, Sante Fe, NM
AAF Contemporary, Fraser Gallery, New York City, NY
Galleri Franz Pedersen, Horsens, Dänemark
Bridge Art Fair, Miami, FL
„Fluchten“, Künstlerverein Walkmühle, Wiesbaden, Deutschland

2007
„Holiday Show“, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
Art.fair 21, Köln, Deutschland

2006
Kunst 06 Zürich,  Zürich, Schweiz

2005
„Invitational Exhibition“, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, NY

2004
„New Figurative Paintings“, Fraser Gallery, Washington DC
Art/UK 2004, London, England
„The Impact of  War“, Art.Com Gallery, New York City, NY

2003
Works on Paper/Art Dealers Association Fair, New York City, NY

2002
Frankfurt Art Fair, Frankfurt am Main, Deutschland
The Art Show/Art Dealers Association Art Fair, New York City, NY,
Pringle Gallery, Princeton, NJ

2001
„Hit and Run“, Woodward Gallery, New York City, NY
„Life Links“, New York Mercantile Exchange, New York City, NY
Philadelphia Contemporary, Philadelphia, PA

2000
„The City and Its Pulse“, Pelham Arts Center, Pelham, NY

1990s

1999
„Midyear Exhibition“, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
„Summer Exhibition“, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, TX
„Nature: Outdoors/Inside“, Woodward Gallery, New York City, NY

1998
„Biennial  Exhibition“, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA
„Painted Cities“, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, NY
„Art as Spectacle“, Katonah Musuem, Katonah, NY
„American Artist Magazine Emerging Artist Exhibition“, Pasadena Arts Center, Pasedena, CA
„49th Art of the Northeast Exhibition“, Silvermine Guild Arts Center, New Canaan, CT
University Gallery, St. John’s University, New York City, NY

1997
Aljira Center for Contemporary Art, Newark, NJ
Comer Museum of Art, Sylacauga, AL
Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, PA
Nassau County Museum of Art, Long Island, NY
„Northern Arts Council Invitational“, Nicolet College/L.R.C. Gallery, Rhinelander, WI
Salmagundi Club, New York City, NY
„Mass Medium“, Westbeth Exhibition Space, New York City, NY

1996
Fairfield University/Thomas J. Walsh Art Gallery, Fairfield, CT
„171st  Biennial“, National Academy Museum, New York City, NY