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David Ligare: A Specific View
David Ligare鈥檚 commitment to history painting presents something of a paradox: a contemporary artist devoted to the past, seeking ancient solutions to present-day problems, defying the status quo by embracing tradition. For over forty years, he has embraced classicism as a means of renewing humanity鈥檚 passion for knowledge, frontrunning a new kind of renaissance. In A Specific View, his fourth solo exhibition at Hirschl & Adler Modern, David Ligare presents nine new paintings that build upon his resolve to follow his own set of rules.
Ligare鈥檚 artistic practice is guided by a tripartite criterion of his own making: carefully devised compositions, a representational aesthetic defined by reverence, and subject matter grounded in secular humanism. Informed by the teachings of the Greek philosopher Plato, Ligare aims to combat what he deems 鈥渢he current decline of rational thinking, a lack of desire for knowledge in general, and the loss of the perspective of history in particular.鈥�
Unfettered by time and uncorrupted by civilization, Ligare鈥檚 landscapes of the Monterey region in California embody an ancient idealism, taking the form of an American Arcadia. The titular landscape, A Specific View (SCIENTIA, ARTE, VENUSTAS) (Knowledge, Skill, Beauty), features a rock arch set in a placid sea. Inscribed in Latin are the eponymous principles, uniting the philosophical and aesthetic ideals that define Ligare鈥檚 work. These landscapes, like all his paintings, are bathed in the late-afternoon sun of 鈥渢he golden hour.鈥� In using the language of sunlight, Ligare imbues his work with life, highlighting the beauty of idealistic thought.
Sunlight, and the meaning it holds, is the subject of the aptly titled SOLIS (Sunlight). Although well known for his still-life paintings, those which Ligare presents in A Specific View are not the offerings to the gods (Aparchai) we are used to. Instead of altar-like arrangements set against the sea, branches of leaves are featured, solitary against a dark ground, selected for the symbolic meaning they held in antiquity. Each is labeled with an important idea, written in Latin: VIRTUS (Virtue), SCIRE (To Know), among others.
It is perhaps with the painting NOVUM INCREMENTUM (New Growth) that we can best understand David Ligare鈥檚 contemporary dedication to ancient ideas. The artist states: 鈥淭he cut-off stump of an olive tree鈥攁 symbol of Athena, the wisest of the ancient gods鈥攕hows how a tradition considered long dead can sprout new growth.鈥�
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David Ligare鈥檚 commitment to history painting presents something of a paradox: a contemporary artist devoted to the past, seeking ancient solutions to present-day problems, defying the status quo by embracing tradition. For over forty years, he has embraced classicism as a means of renewing humanity鈥檚 passion for knowledge, frontrunning a new kind of renaissance. In A Specific View, his fourth solo exhibition at Hirschl & Adler Modern, David Ligare presents nine new paintings that build upon his resolve to follow his own set of rules.
Ligare鈥檚 artistic practice is guided by a tripartite criterion of his own making: carefully devised compositions, a representational aesthetic defined by reverence, and subject matter grounded in secular humanism. Informed by the teachings of the Greek philosopher Plato, Ligare aims to combat what he deems 鈥渢he current decline of rational thinking, a lack of desire for knowledge in general, and the loss of the perspective of history in particular.鈥�
Unfettered by time and uncorrupted by civilization, Ligare鈥檚 landscapes of the Monterey region in California embody an ancient idealism, taking the form of an American Arcadia. The titular landscape, A Specific View (SCIENTIA, ARTE, VENUSTAS) (Knowledge, Skill, Beauty), features a rock arch set in a placid sea. Inscribed in Latin are the eponymous principles, uniting the philosophical and aesthetic ideals that define Ligare鈥檚 work. These landscapes, like all his paintings, are bathed in the late-afternoon sun of 鈥渢he golden hour.鈥� In using the language of sunlight, Ligare imbues his work with life, highlighting the beauty of idealistic thought.
Sunlight, and the meaning it holds, is the subject of the aptly titled SOLIS (Sunlight). Although well known for his still-life paintings, those which Ligare presents in A Specific View are not the offerings to the gods (Aparchai) we are used to. Instead of altar-like arrangements set against the sea, branches of leaves are featured, solitary against a dark ground, selected for the symbolic meaning they held in antiquity. Each is labeled with an important idea, written in Latin: VIRTUS (Virtue), SCIRE (To Know), among others.
It is perhaps with the painting NOVUM INCREMENTUM (New Growth) that we can best understand David Ligare鈥檚 contemporary dedication to ancient ideas. The artist states: 鈥淭he cut-off stump of an olive tree鈥攁 symbol of Athena, the wisest of the ancient gods鈥攕hows how a tradition considered long dead can sprout new growth.鈥�
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David Ligare鈥檚 commitment to history painting presents something of a paradox: a contemporary artist devoted to the past, seeking ancient solutions to present-day problems, defying the status quo by embracing tradition.
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