The Dream,
photomontage, pen & ink and watercolour on paper, 19 ¾ x 28 ¾ in. (50 x 73 cm).
Up in the Air, photomontage on paper, 12 ½ x 13 ¾ in. (32 x 35 cm).
David Evans (1929-1988)
The first ever book on an exceptional British watercolourist who captured the period charm of the glam – rock era and shift ing political landscape of Thatcher’s Britain.
Before his tragic early death in a road accident David Evans had six solo exhibitions at The Redfern Gallery, London, between 1979 and 1988. While powerfully evoking the period charm of the glam-rock era Evans showed a conscious awareness of the shifting political landscape around him. His compositions convey a kaleidoscopic vision of Thatcher’s Britain: an era of urban re-development, the Falklands war, industrial unrest, nuclear power, and the Cold War. In Evans’ huge watercolours (typically measuring one meter in height or bredth) transition is everywhere: new roads carve their way through the countryside; fighter jets cast their shadows across the landscape; the scars left by industrial plants, pylons and landfill permeate throughout.
Comparison to the large, idiosyncratic watercolours of Edward Burra (1905- 1976) is inevitable, but in Evans’ paintings there are also other clear generational influences, from Keith Vaughan (1912-1977), who Evans was taught by, to Peter Blake (b.1932), David Hockney (b.1937), Alan Reynolds (1926-2014), Lucian Freud (1922-2011), Francis Bacon (1909-1992), Graham Sutherland (1903-1980) and Edward Paolozzi (1924-2005). Alistair Hicks’ essay, which considers the post-war art scene in Britain, describes the essential context from which Evans’ vision was to emerge; at the same time it creates a compelling argument that Evans’ vision remained essentially his own. Pete Gage, best known as the vocalist from the R&B band Dr. Feelgood, has written an intimate account of his friendship with David Evans. His recollections recreate a unique picture of the artist that might so easily have been lost. The previously unseen collage and pen and ink compositions of the 1950s and 1960s, found in the studio alongside the more familiar large scale watercolours of the 1970s and 1980s, are a revelation. and complete the previous unchartered account of his artistic journey. Welcome to the lost kingdom of David Evans.
Air Escape, watercolour on paper,
29 x 46 in. (74 x 117 cm).
Pot au Fer (British Steel), watercolour on paper, 30 ¼ x 48 in. (77 x 122 cm).
Cloth of Tin, watercolour on paper,
26 ¾ x 41 in. (65 x 93 cm).
