Jay Davies Within/without

My work is a group of drawings depicting the ‘within’ – intimate studies of those closest to me – and the ‘without’, where enlarged reproductions of the drawings were placed in urban settings. In the street, my subjects became anonymous, photography documenting the insignificance of each individual character and expression. In using ‘the street as gallery’ my images move outside the conventions of art institutions, but also that of contemporary street art, surrounded by footpath advertisements or beside a Keith Haring mural. I sought to free these personal pieces from social and cultural constructs, uniting the ‘within’ and ‘without’. Toulouse-Lautrec’s honest and warm depictions of people inspired me to draw those close to me in intimate situations. Seeing the power of the street as gallery, I combined the classic idea of the human figure in art with modern developments of street art and direct exposure.

Influencing artists:
Henri Matisse
Edvard Munch
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Oskar Kokoschka
Max Beckmann
Georges Rouault
Edgar Degas
Edouard Manet
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec