Monday, March 10, 2008

Keith Donovan: Collage Master















Keith Donovan is a long-time collage artist with a taste for the oblique. The Canadian who moved to Switzerland some 30 years ago (and Paris about 10 years ago), has long been a fan of de Kooning, but he's also addicted to Disney and type and packaging material. His process is ultimately hand-made, but getting there Donovan has begun to employ a variety of machines in the process of "building" his canvases. He still uses a light projector to beam images across his studio onto specially produced canvases; more recently he's been scanning images and distorting them, printing then and inserting them into his projector. The addition of digital manipulation has moved his work to the Old Masters (Breughel among them) and some other more modern masters (Walt Disney) to exceptional effects.

Keith has been making art for decades and the venture into a slightly more digital realm has permitted him to work with a variety of collaborators. A year ago he produced a series of pillows in Lyon, France during a residency at URDLA, Centre Internationale de l’Estampe using digital collages to print on canvas. His series, The Seven Deadly Sins (after Breughel) were a hit. He is now reworking a range of Old Masters in his signature collage style in his studio in Le Jouhet, France.

He is currently working towards an exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland at Galerie Foex, his long-time European dealer. (I first exhibited with Keith in 1999 at galerie eof, Paris, along with Caterina Verde in a show called "New Zoo." We also exhibited in Antwerp at Factor 44, along with the late, great artist (and friend), Tony Morgan.

Donovan is currently stretching canvases and using his scanner and camera more than ever. Take a look at more of Keith Donovan's new work here.