Mel Davis Art

Hugh Goffinet stares out from the canvas in the dress of a soldier, without being one. He is a reenactor of an African American volunteer in the Abraham Lincoln Battalion. His inspiration is the Lincolns—the battalion’s volunteers—but they are pictured only symbolically, in his dress. Their inspiration was Lincoln, who many decades earlier helped give meaning to the American Civil War, but who is invisible in the painting except by implication—the pose of Hugh Goffinet—which carefully emulates Lincoln’s pose in the celebrated presidential portrait by George Healy. Entirely hidden, at the deepest layer of history, is the true source of inspiration: the human desire for equality and freedom. To understand, honor, and preserve it requires remembrance, in this case with history animating reenactors who animate art that animates memory. "No Pasaran" - an expression of determination to defend a position against an enemy - channels the spirit of Winslow Homer's war imagery, bringing it into the contemporary world, asking us to reflect upon the decisions forced to be made in wartime, some of which will never leave us. As for the paintings, William uses materials and methods of the Civil War era. The linen on which he paints was in use at that time as well as the tubed oil paints. He is one of the few artists who tacks his canvas to the stretchers using similar tacks that would have been used by Winslow Homer. While he leaves the works unframed for this reason, the artwork could certainly be framed. This piece is unframed. Please contact the gallery for framing options. William Blake No Pasaran oil on linen 48h x 30w in 121.92h x 76.20w cm WIL047 Known for his highly charged depictions of Civil War reenactments, William Blake’s powerful paintings show the recursive bodies of reenactors as they gesture across time. Participating in over 40 reenactment events, Blake currently interprets as the artist-correspondent Winslow Homer at these battle reenactments. He immerses himself in the materiality of his own obsession by constructing period clothes, camping on battlefields, and documenting the reenactment similar to Homer’s documentation of the authentic war. The figures in the paintings reverberate the past with respect and with a desire to educate, humble, and play. With each annual iteration of American Civil War reenactments, the reanimation of the past encourages a review of history and aids in its continuous revision. For his second exhibition with Gallery Victor Armendariz, William Blake presents A Great Battlefield, a collection of new paintings depicting US Marines at the Gettysburg National Military Park. A Great Battlefield, takes its title from Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address which poetically looks to the battlefield as a site of rebirth. Following the tradition of nineteenth-century American history painting...

Carefully ordered patterns, geometric shapes and delicate lines in light blue, lime green, indigo, pink and aqua on a luminous golden yellow background. Signed, dated and titled on v...

To Shizico, a triptych is a compilation of visual prayers; it embodies a meditative voyage akin to a form of meditation. For her, the repetition of motifs within the triptych serves ...

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Sunset Song Series was created entirely en plein air, painted directly under the dimming light of late-summer and autumn sunsets. This body of work is a meditation on seeing without...

Sunset Song Series stands as one of the most iconic works featured in the upcoming Summer Exhibition UK, 2025—a rare and luminous collection of latest artworks we’re thrilled to pres...

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Teal and white abstract contemporary concentric circle shaped painting by Houston, TX artist David Hardaker. Signed, titled, and dated by the artist on the reverse. Artist Statement...

Michelle Jader's "Sweet Struggle" is a beautiful, original oil painting on board. This piece is framed at 12.50 x 9.50 inches, and is ready to hang. Change comes to all of us. Wheth...

“Eruption” is a commanding abstract in which color rises and disperses like molten energy. The layered oils feel volcanic yet intentional, echoing her long exploration of transformat...