publishedIan Davenport has marked his tenth show at London’s Waddington Custot gallery with his largest ever wall-to-floor installation, alongside new and recent work.
Wallpaper*: The behaviour of paint and the ways it can be applied have long fascinated you. How does this new work build on these themes?Well, you could say I think in paint. Making paintings is how I understand and try and relate to the world. I am drawn to certain fundamental facts of our environment. I try and access those forces – the pull of gravity on our bodies and not only gravity but the wind, water, tides.
W*: Visitors will visually submerge themselves in the ‘Lake’ installations; why does this appeal to you and how did it begin?In 2022, I was part of a show called ‘Crazy’ at the Chiostro del Bramante in Rome. I was invited to create an installation that flowed down the stairwell of this 16th-century Italian Renaissance building. It was a thrill to respond to Bramante’s classical architecture with bold vivid colours.