David Seidman

FAR FROM NORMAL

opening online: Friday, August 21st 2020

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Arch Enemy Arts is pleased to announce Far From Normal, a new special feature by local Philly favorite, David Seidman. The series consists of six digital paintings, each printed as a one of one archival print that is mounted, varnished, hand-embellished, and framed in antiques collected by the artist. 

 

Seidman is one of the few digital painters AEA shows, and he has been working digitally for almost 20 years. Though well-studied in more traditional forms, Seidman says that, as a medium, digital painting allows him to focus more on image and concept as opposed to the material he employs. The process enables him to draw upon his love for the photographic while masterfully manipulating and abstracting each composition into the utterly surreal. For us, Seidman’s work feels like pure cinema. Composition, lighting, framing, and perspective are all key aspects of his work that make us feel like something is happening or unraveling; things are changing and developing—like sand shifting beneath our feet.

 

Seidman started working on this show pre-pandemic, but as the world changed, so too did the concept of the series. Touching on themes of money, love, religion, consumerism, and climate change, the artist’s dark netherworld becomes a meditation on this very point in time. He writes, 

 

“If Far From Normal was a stew, ‘The Game of Charmers’ would be the base, and all the other paintings would be the ingredients formed from the anxiety and frustration that this year has been so far. The central theme in ‘Charmers’ is a deadly game of manipulation or gaslighting. This theme ended up being the basis of what I was seeing as the world came to a sudden stop. Maybe there is a better world without what we have been fed as ‘normal?’ Maybe, if we realized we were being charmed and put a stop to this deadly game, we could have more time with family, a better environment, healthier choices, and even true happiness.” 

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This is David's fourth exclusive series with AEA since his first time showing with us back in 2013.

Works from Far From Normal will be on display from August 24th through September 13th, by appointment only.

Sold works will ship the week of September 14th.

past WORKs BY DAVID SEIDMAN

all pieces marked with a red dot have been sold