For Immediate Release
August 26, 2019

East Hampton’s David Slater: Paintings, Collages and Sculpture, at Suffolk’s Lyceum Gallery

David Slater: Paintings, Collages, and Sculptures will be exhibited at the Suffolk County Community College Eastern Campus’ Lyceum Gallery from September 16 through November 2. Slater’s dreamscapes of familiar Sag Harbor locations, visual accounts of social justice encounters, and pure joy of the beach community are all set to the artists’ love of pattern and color. The viewer is challenged to find the familiar places within Mr. Slaters’ fantastical approach to art.

David Slater: Paintings, Collages, and Sculptures will be exhibited at the Suffolk County Community College Eastern Campus’ Lyceum Gallery from September 20 through November 2.

The term “Creative Genius” comes to mind after meeting Slater in his East Hampton studio, which overflows with huge oil paintings, stacks of mixed media collages, and ornate assemblage sculpture.  Behind the artist’s easy going, bohemian appearance lies the heart of a theological philosopher, an activist, and a dreamscape surrealist, themes that he has applied to his work throughout his 60 year career.  Among the sheer number of delightfully creative works are the pure masterpieces that the artist seems to effortlessly channel using watercolor and oil paint and collaged curios from a bygone era.   “I have a fear of open spaces,” the artist jokes about his all-in working style, which is actually a stream of consciousness way of working that is analogous to James Joyce’s writing style.  

In Life Affirmations, Slater will exhibit 8 ft. wide canvases from his beach series along with the first drawing/collages that inspired them; his rarely exhibited work, Fatagaga, a 12’ wide oil on canvas, on loan from a private collection, which he painted at a Rhode Island Surrealism festival; and a number of watercolors and found object sculptures.

David Slater was born in 1940 in Nassau County and attended SUNY at Buffalo where he earned a bachelor’s degree in art education.  He taught in England for three years and returned to the United States to earn a MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He taught at RISD for three years before travelling throughout the country and became an activist for the Lakota Native Americans.  Slater returned to the east coast and settled in Sag Harbor where he lived for 35 years.

Slater is the recipient of a number of awards and has exhibited his work throughout the United States. In 2006 he received a Pollock/Krasner Grant which funded his recent work. He won a Best Work on Paper award at the Guild Hall Artist-Member exhibit and received a National Endowment for the Arts grant to create a 20’ x 20’ mural for a Rhode Island train station in 1978. 

Slater currently lives and paints at his studio in East Hampton where he continues to draw inspiration from the rich east end environment, and he works as a docent for the Pollack/Krasner House and Study Center in Springs.

A reception will be held on Wednesday, September 25 from 4 to 6 p.m.  Refreshments will be served.

 

Gallery hours are:

Monday -Thursday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Saturday 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Sunday - closed

Exceptions: closed evenings after 4 p.m. 9/3 – 9/6, and on 10/8, call 631 548-2536 for more information.