Art Blog
David Cottingham Latest News and Blog
Dancing in the Dark
"From the Darkness, Sunrise and Rain". Two Panels on Canvas Summer is hovering around us, not sure whether it has anything seasonal to wear this year. The longest day passed on a tide of change, the dawning of the age of uncertainty, maybe the 21st Century has finally...
Helios Rising
No two sunrises are the same. The cliche fades when confronted by the beauty of the moment. I recently travelled down to the Kent coast to Margate, where I used to live and where the great Mr Turner used to paint the sometimes glorious skies. As well as a beautiful...
Beyond Byzantium
In his great poem Sailing to Byzantium, WB Yeats addresses growing old and embarks on a late spiritual journey to a poetic paradise. "And therefore I have sailed the seas and come To the holy city of Byzantium". Byzantium was home for a thousand years to a...
Lost in the Dream
Immersing yourself in something creative, be it Music, Books or Movies etc can be a wonderful release. For a while you are somewhere else, a different country, somewhere that time at last stands still. Painting is often like that, a sort of Lucid Dreaming, absorbing...
Light from Lebanon
Every place we visit offers us the gift of Light. Subtle or extreme, no two landscapes have the same relationship with the miracle that is sunlight. With Lebanon still very much in my memory I have revisited a brief trip we made to Byblos. This very ancient city has...
From Lebanon with Love
Returning from a truly memorable exhibition in the beautiful land of Lebanon. The sights and sounds will linger long in our memory. Beirut is the most vibrant and fascinating of cities and we want to return again to explore more of its incredible past and present. We...
Towards Paradiso
Well the day approaches and the year is ending on a high, with an up-coming show in Beirut at the beautiful Villa Paradiso. All the work is delivered and ready for the hang. The theme is Dualities and after a lot of thought this seems an ever more apt title. The more...
Vision of Dualities
December sees my next solo exhibition, set in the beautiful Villa Paradiso in Beirut, Lebanon. The show is hosted and curated by the wonderful Vanessa Clark of VC Art. It is a show I am very excited about for several reasons. In particular it is all new work on show...
A Thing of Beauty : My Week in View
The Ice House Gallery show ended on a real high with many of you saying how much you enjoyed your visit. Taking stock is always interesting and informative. So many memories of chance encounters and delightful moments. I often feel daunted by having to discuss my work...
Park Life : 18th August-1st September
My next Holland Park show "The Dancer at the Gates of Dawn" is approaching fast and I want to extend a warm welcome to all who can make it along. Always enjoyable to be there and a great chance to meet up with old friends and greet new faces. My trip to Greece...
Made Visible Video
Made Visible by David Cottingham from D Contemporary on Vimeo.
This Week “Made Visible”, A Year in the Making
'Made Visible'- David Cottingham PRIVATE VIEW - Wednesday 22nd November 6-9pm Co-curated by Vanessa Clark and Mara Alves Presented by VC Art and D Contemporary This exciting show is the culmination of a fifteen-year journey for me, studying the art of Dance and...
Looking Forward, Looking Back
Looking Back I have just returned from Madrid where we managed to catch the anniversary show of Picasso’s “Guernica”. Seeing this masterpiece for the first time was an extraordinary moment for me and a humbling one. As always Picasso’s sureness of line and...
Summer of Love, the 50 Year Journey
Fifty years ago during the 1967 "Summer of Love", while Hippies were gathering across the world, I began another life-long love affair and started attending Life Drawing Classes at my local Art School in Margate. I remember being somewhat nervous and overawed by the...
New Year, New Beginnings
Greetings and Best Wishes for a great new year. Creatively this is an exciting time for me, as I am working towards a show of new figurative Dance work. I will let you know later when and where this show will take place this year but I already have greatly...
Autumn Soul
The summer ended with a wonderful late burst of light and energy. I participated in a local Open Studio event, spanning two weekends which proved very rewarding and inspiring. It also provided a great opportunity to meet so many new friends and neighbours we never...