DAVID BRAY

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Born in Dartford, Kent, in 1970, explores a dark, quirky, egotistical fantasy world, inspired by a wide range of artists; from sculptor Allen Jones, comic artist Eric Stanton, erotic photography by Helmut Newton and Araki and paintings by Gustav Klimt, and Alberto Vargas. Using basic drawing tools, such as pens, pencils and paper, Bray creates delicate and time-consuming drawings which explore emotion, utopia and a world of fantasy through his subject matter of the beautiful and erotic female form. His compelling works reveal his lifetime love of drawing and a very active imagination taking the viewer into his dark, amative world of fantasy. David has also had a successful commercial career since graduating in 1992 from Central St. Martins, in London with a degree in Graphic Design.

 

Commercial clients include brands such as Agent Provocateur, H&M, Puma,  Virgin, Absolut, MTV, BBC Television, Harvey Nichols, Canon, Elle, Flaunt mag, Sunday Times, Time Out, and MTV. His collaboration with photographer Tim Bret Day & Lee Stuart for the Harvey Nichols campaign‚ HN on Earth is in the permanent poster collection at the Louvre, Paris. 

David Bray has been exhibiting his artwork since 2006, with solo shows in London and Los Angeles.

 

Artist Statement

“For as long as I can remember. I’ve been surrounded by art and artists. My late father worked for 30 odd years at the Royal Academy of Arts in London – so by default I was brought up in this environment of creativity and imagination.  When I was growing up I didn’t have any posters on my wall, I had 3 drawings by Alfred Hitchcock – of some birds. I was terrified.  My work is all about the line and the human form, keeping it fluid and feminine.  It’s very inspired by 40′s and 50′s pin-ups,  religion, David Lynch, breathlessness, heels, black magic, not drowning in the sea – all mixed up and presented in ink, paint and wool. Mainly though it is about PLAY, to keep pressing and pushing so I’m not constantly repeating ..

I usually tend to work with pen/pencil on paper but over recent years i have started experimenting with different mediums. A lot of my most recent work has been large scale pieces on wood, minimum 6ft high. I like the challenge and try and push myself to try new things. Most of these pieces are in private collections but you can currently see 3 of them in Gordon Ramsey’s Union Street Cafe in London.

I have  done a few sporadic street pieces, and that was more about testing myself – if  I could translate the work on paper to larger scale and in new environments.  I’m quite a restless soul and get bored quite quickly, so new mediums are new challenges.”