David McArthur

‘Out Of The Shadows’ 
An exhibition of oil paintings by David McArthur at SAABAT Gallery South Bank 


10th December 2020 


Curated by Azad K.M

David has been a Sunday painter for many years, always seeking to find time from his busy schedules, as A Father, A Husband and Worker. Now in his early 6o’s, he says that “it is now more than ever Art provides me with wings in order to fly, and the SAABAT Gallery is my new home”. David is a firm believer that painting in the open air ‘plein air’ is the doorway to discovery and the artist studio is the workshop which allows greater scale to these studies.

He remembers fondly the many encounters he’s had with folks as he’s painting in Italy, along The River Thames, The local South Gare and finally in his studies of Southbank. His oil paintings are produced quickly, and he is often impatient and restless always seeking to improve the image. It is the trams, trackless’, flat caps, posh hats, the docks, the works, the pubs, that are fascinating to him. David is inspired by the life and works of J.M.W. Turner with his course cockney accent, who made muck and grime look nothing short of sublime. David is never satisfied with any image for long, but intuitively shifts and shapes paint to uncover the one he ultimately desires. When he sleeps at night the images and architecture, doorways and shadows and the people of old fill his mind from which he takes a comfort. He says that “an artist must always be sneaking and sniffing around, always restless never taking their eyes of the ever-changing light all around them”.

David seeks to share his memories and bring his art to the walls of The Southbank Gallery and he describes it a bit like bringing food to the table for everyone to share. The old actors are brought back to the stage, the old streets, and coming out of the shadows they can be seen again. An old friend David Mulholland used to say to David: “it’s all about making an image”. This exhibition ‘Out of The Shadows’ seeks to bring images for contemplation and to keep the conversation going and the memories alive