The first monograph dedicated to Ian Davenport, this richly illustrated book provides a comprehensive account of the artist’s career. Charting a history of intensely rigorous and unconventional painting processes, Martin Filler guides the reader through twenty-five years of artistic production. From early electric-fan paintings, to his poured arches, circles, lines and puddle paintings, we see how Davenport has experimented with method and medium, exploring varying qualities and applications of paint, both in his early monochrome paintings and in his later complex colour combinations.

Filler demonstrates the strong influence of European and American abstraction, including such artists as Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Ellsworth Kelly, while also showing how Davenport has been affected by the contemporary urban environment of London today. Michael Bracewell’s interview provides a crucial insight into Davenport’s approach to painting, along with his own personal account of his artistic achievements. Their conversation reveals Davenport’s ideas, observations and humour.

A rare opportunity to see the evolution of Davenport’s paintings, while providing an important context for each phase in his artistic development, this book clearly demonstrates how Davenport has interpreted a variety of influences and developed a body of work that is distinctively his own.

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