The
Gallery Gazetteer 
Hatch Billops Collection presents David Fludd for
"Artist and Influence"
by Agate Elie
The Hatch Billops Collection is a not-for-profit
research library founded in 1975. Its mission is to collect and
preserve materials about Black Cultural Art and make them available
for artists, scholars and the general public. Throughout the year,
Hatch Billops presents "Artist & Influence." This
event hosts African American, Asian and Spanish artists talking
about their work in the form of an interview. These oral stories
are recorded and become part of the Hatch Billops Collection archives.
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| Camille Billops interviewing David
Fludd. Photo by Agate Elie |
On February 7, Hatch Billops interviewed David
Fludd to share his work and his career evolution. David Fludd was
born in an artistic environment. His father was a painter and his
older brother as well. He grew up doing music, puppet theater, drawing
and painting. From Morehouse College to Yale, Fludd perfected his
style.
 |
| Painting
and photo by David Fludd, 6'x5'. Acrylic on canvas 2005. |
He defines his work as improvisation and open to
interpretation. He likes to say that his painting encourages "a
formal language" with the audience. This dialogue is possible
through the use of the arch shape, a type of geometric prism that
combines a square, a triangle and a circle. He likes to play with
opposites such as relations of loudness and softness, density and
opacity, rhythm and balance.
 |
| Painting and photo by David Fludd,
3'x5' acrylic on canvas 2004. |
Fludd is a spontaneous painter but also precise
and rigorous, trying to reach a perfect balance in the overall painting.
Fludd explains that using his layering process, a painting can take
months or even years before being finished. First, Fludd lets the
paint dry because the result is different from a wet canvas. Second,
he needs to put his work aside for long periods of time in order
to stand back and have a better understanding of its struture. His
work is both contemplative and spontaneous and that is how you feel
when you look at the canvases. [By Agate Elie]
The Hatch Billops will present Anna Tanksley on
March 6, Michael Cummings on March 20 , David Henderson on April
3, Jimmy Owens on April 10, and Michael Simon on May 15. Hatch Billops
is located on 491 Broadway, Seventh Floor, New York.
