Ian Davenport’s name will forever be associated with the likes of Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas and Gary Hume being, as he was, one of the 16 Goldsmiths students who hung the audacious Freeze exhibition in a London Port Authority building in Docklands in 1988. Known collectively since then as the YBA (Young British Artists), the group went on to become some of the best-known names of the British art world, both as a group and individually.

Davenport picked up a Turner Prize nomination in 1991 for his abstract paintings, made up of layers of household paint poured, dripped and thrown on to tilted canvases - the final composition of each is all down to gravity and the consistency of the paint itself. A fact that’s even more striking when you consider the works that feature multiple stripes of colour. We’re surely not the only ones to ask: how is it that each shade remains so tonally pure? If we tried it ourselves, we’re almost certain we’d only produce a muddy mess.

This organic creative process has continued to be central to the artist’s work, and has also been credited by Damien Hirst as the inspiration for his own ‘Spot’ series.

Now though, Davenport has turned his attention more towards printmaking - in particular silkscreen printing and etching - and we are delighted to have a series of limited edition prints ready and waiting to share with you.

In its original painted format the energy and power of Davenport’s ‘Colour Splat’ series is already impressive, but the technicalities of the screen printing process actually adds something else to the images. The layers of colour have to be individually applied meaning that each print pulled in the studio is unique and complex in its own way.

These limited edition prints definitely need to be seen in person to fully appreciate the finer qualities of their finish. Why not drop by our Brighton gallery and ask one of our art advisors to show you the various colourful Splat pieces, each of which is signed by the artist. Just think, you have the possibility to show a YBA – who’s exhibited at the likes of the Tate in London and MoMA in New York – in your own home! We’d say that’s quite a draw.

Discover these Ian Davenport prints online, visit our Brighton gallery or call us on 01273 724829

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