DAVID PEARSON

Each one of David Pearson’s sculptures has an individuality and an authoritative presence that creates a relationship between the viewer and the work of art. No matter how contained, cool and elegant the figure, a Pearson bronze projects a classical balance between vulnerability and dignity, between its own inner life and its connection with the human race.

One has seen this perfect tension before, usually in museums which house collections from antiquity. Pearson’s sculptures do not borrow stylistically from anyone, yet their intuitive essence corresponds on a peer level with Nefertiti, Gothic cathedrals, the Russian icons and their artistic heirs: Vermeer, Archipenko, Braque and Giacometti. Unlike the swarming, labored Hellenic and Victorian statuary and the excesses of post-Modernism, all of Pearson’s works have a common thread of reserve, grace, depth --- qualities which have grown increasingly rare in recent times.

In Pearson’s hands, these qualities imbue each figure with a quiet radiance. They crackle with the humor and angst of a solid contemporary consciousness, functioning fully in the present moment while exhibiting the electric calm of the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Not for Pearson is the tortured theatricality of art as political propaganda. “For me, art is a personal venture,” he explains. “I’m not out to change the world, but to change a few people who are free to like my work because they like it. I address people with good collections, and galleries with a vision who structure themselves behind the work of their artists. I feel that these people are as important as the artists themselves because they complete the communication.”

Pearson drives his vision below the surface of a sculpture, bringing forth fundamental emotions by means of proportion, posture, and a certain degree of abstraction. The abstract elements are never irrelevant. Look closely: the painterly Cubistic breaking up of a torso, combined with slightly raised shoulders, heavy hands and feet and the most telling interplay of positive and negative space all combine to subtly portray the gut feeling of a watershed personal change. One figure seems to be a veteran of the inner wars, eroded but though as driftwood, maintaining his privacy behind sunglasses; another is a figure who lifts her face unselfconsciously into a fresh wind.

David Pearson’s work exudes the fine craftsmanship and seasoned vision of a lifetime, so it comes as a surprise to learn that the artist is still a relatively young man. One soon realizes that here is an old soul who had the wisdom, early on, to bypass the conventional routes of academe and go straight for a Renaissance style education. For two decades he has collaborated with some of the great names in American sculpture, casting their work in bronze as a senior foundry master. All the while, he has steeped himself in art history and developed his own style, thus building up an international record of gallery exhibitions. In the process he has himself become a mature Renaissance man.