**David McBride will be showing his work at 1182 Flushing Ave, 2nd Fl**
Please tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m from Ohio. I came to New York in August, 2001, to go to Hunter, which I finished in 2005. I’ve had a studio in Bushwick for just over a year.
What project(s) will you be showing during this year's open studios festival?
Well, I’ll be opening my painting studio. An understanding of “projects” in my practice extends to a thematic treatment of subject matter, but probably stops there. To that end, I’m working on some abstract paintings that I’d like to finish for the festival. It’s been a while since I’ve made abstract paintings, but given the conceptual concerns of my work, it seems time to introduce that language again.
What inspired this project?
My work uses a lot of photographic imagery and deals with the way art mediums have been constructed from their formal elements. I’m interested in a way to understand this act of construction as myth-making, so a lot of the imagery in the paintings represent various interpretations of myth. But the process of making the paintings has its own references, and the abstract paintings are about articulating that process. Where the image-based paintings evoke a kind of picture code and suggest the contingency of any image, the abstract paintings utilize the encoded terms of abstract painting in a kind of absurdist representation of avant-garde painting.
How long have you lived in Bushwick, and what initially drew you to the neighborhood?
Actually, I live in Williamsburg, but my studio is in Bushwick. I moved out of a live/work situation in Gowanus last spring, so I had to find a studio. I know a lot of people out here, which was a big draw, and the price was right. It’s a nice energy out here, although I hesitate to identify too much with a supposed “Bushwick scene”, which may be a contrivance. I just like it as a place where there a lot of art studios and creative people who are establishing a neighborhood, like Williamsburg must have been a long time ago- though there are some drawbacks to that process.
Can you recommend any Bushwick artists or art venues that you think we should check out?
Well, as an artist, I’m more naturally more inclined towards taverns than art venues, so my first recommendation is Tandem, at 136 Troutman. It’s a very comfy place with a good bar, and seems to capture some of that Bushwick energy. Starr Space can have interesting performances. It also seems like Pocket Utopia is always a friendly place that offers an alternative to market-conscious galleries and slick, heavily-curated non profit spaces.
There are a lot of good artists out here, though I don’t know how many of them will be opening their studios. Jenny Vogel will open her studio at 7 St. Nicholas St, 4th floor; she’s one of my favorite artists.
Thank you David!
To learn more about David's art practice, check out his website.
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