The work of David Batchelor revolves around one primary obsession – color. His adoration for the myriad vibrant shades of the urban environment is accentuated by a critical awareness of how we perceive and respond to color in our highly advanced technological age.
Within his studio lies a veritable treasure trove of fluorescent plastic objects, procured from pound shops and markets across the globe – clothes pegs, fly-swatters, buckets, spades, children’s toys, and empty bottles of household products – all stacked high. Batchelor expertly combines these everyday items with a variety of light-industrial materials – steel shelving, commercial lightboxes, neon tubing, warehouse dollies, acrylics, plastics, and more – to produce extraordinary installations that elevate the mundane and celebrate the gaudy and garish, mesmerizing viewers with their innate beauty.
Born in 1955 in Dundee and currently residing and working in London, Batchelor has garnered recognition through various exhibitions. In 2013, his two-dimensional work, Flatlands, was on display at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh before touring to Spike Island in Bristol. The Whitechapel Gallery in London also featured Batchelor’s work in the renowned group exhibition Adventures of the Black Square: Abstract Art and Society 1915 – 2015. Additionally, a separate exhibition showcasing Batchelor’s Monochrome Archive (1997-2015) was on view at the Whitechapel Gallery until May of 2015. More recently, during the 2019 Edinburgh Art Festival, Ingleby presented My Own Private Bauhaus – a solo exhibition showcasing Batchelor’s sculptures and paintings.
Batchelor’s extensive portfolio includes numerous noteworthy temporary and permanent public artworks, including a commission for the British Council headquarters in Hong Kong, Spectrum on the Hill in Seoul, South Korea, a 10-meter high light installation at the Archway Tube Station in London, and a captivating chromatic clock titled Sixty Minute Spectrum adorning the roof of the Hayward Gallery.
www.ftn-books.com has the GEM invitation for his exhibition now available.
