Artist statement
Dave Morgan-Davies is a Bristol-based visual artist whose work focuses on landscape and the built environment. His photographs and moving images are meditations on the character and poetry of particular places and moments.
Although much of his work follows a straight documentary approach, Dave is interested in the painterly quality of photography and is keen to explore the abstract possibilities of lens-based media. Often experimenting with different lighting and atmospheric conditions he deliberately avoids digital manipulation; preferring a pure approach, presenting only what is captured in the moment by the camera's lens.
The work retains a unique 'aura' revealing the beauty and mystery of his chosen landscapes. Location, light and composition are key to capturing a sense of place, with time of day and climatic conditions often having a powerful impact on the work. By alluding to human activity and through the use of a distinctive chromatic range the work invites contemplation. It responds with subtlety showing that if one looks, an emotional connection can be found in perhaps any place.
Qualifications and training
- 2003 Communication Media (Interactive), University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol
Solo exhibitions
- 2012 What you see is what you see, Motorcade/FlashParade, Bristol
Group exhibitions
- 2013 F-Number, The Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol (more info)
- 2013 F-Number, The Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol
- 2012 160th Autumn exhibition, RWA, Bristol
- 2012 All at Sea, Pie Factory, Margate
- 2012 New Visions II, Grant Bradley Gallery, Bristol
- 2011 Real Bath Art Prize, Fringe Arts Bath, Bath
- 2010 The Open, Motorcade/FlashParade, Bristol
- 2010 Phone-ography, Photographique, Bristol
- 2009 Memory / Imagination, Art Purchase Prize, University of Glamorgan, Cardiff
- 2009 Territory, The Otter Gallery, University of Chichester
- 2008 Artsway Open, Artsway, Sway, Hampshire
- 2008 Through the Lens, RWA, Bristol
Curated projects
- 2010 illuminate - The Longest Night, various pop-up locations, Bedminster, Bristol
- 2010 Crossing the Threshold, Bristol Festival of Photography, Retro Collectables and Broadwalk Arts
- 2009 illuminate - Spring Forward, various pop-up locations, Bedminster, Bristol
Residencies
- 2013 Brisons Veor, Residential artists’ studio, Cape Cornwall
- 2011 Rural idyll 2, Little Dodnash Farm, Suffolk
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2012 Louise Copping Fine Art Award, RWA, Bristol
Personal website
