Meeting with painter David Bascuñana

David is a photographer and painter. We met him as he was finishing the installation of his exhibition, which opens on Saturday.

David started painting a little by chance, during the confinement. Idle, he was looking for a way to occupy himself and express himself. This artist-photographer has always been attracted to contemporary art, and is particularly inspired by Soulages.
His works are abstract, diverse, composed of matter, collage and spontaneous writing. They are mainly large-format, allowing the artist to give free rein to his expression.

David likes to work with textures, particularly dark tones.

"Light colors, of course, immediately reflect light. Black is more complex and interests me more. I work in successive layers to create texture. My paintings are approached vertically, from matter to light."

Working mainly with a spatula, he uses plaster, acrylic paint, spray paint, gold leaf and any object he can get his hands on (scotch tape, plastic, paper) to create relief. When he creates, he likes the idea of randomness and ephemerality.

"I'm like a child! I have fun, I tinker, I fail, I make and remake...
I can spend days and days on a piece of work. I never have a very precise idea in mind at the start, and I never know what it will look like in the end !"

Creating is also a way, he says, of denouncing the Manichean society that surrounds us, such as this red and black work representing passion and hell, inspired by Dante's Comédie Humaine.

"Painting is a form of meditation for me. It's an introspection, but also a way of denouncing what revolts me about the world we live in."