ARTIST STATEMENT
"I've always been a bit obsessed with the aesthetic of film photography, so most of my life I've been documenting locations and subjects on film, often using it in some other way to create something new. In a world filled with digital photographs that become files that only exist in the ether, using film photography feels almost supernatural because the film exists as an object because it is manifested into reality. The images are contained in a film transparency and must be printed to be seen. Film is my medium of choice precisely because of its physical nature – it is a tactile document I create to record the world as I encounter it. However I’d like the film I shoot to tell a story more complex than the one contained in a single image, so I cut and edit my images to make new compositions, like a motion picture editor in the 20th century who pieced together fragments of film to create a whole movie. I believe this editing process reveals different narratives within the subjects, sometimes clearly identifiable, but can also provide form and order to purely abstract images or content. No matter the subject or message, the visible presence of the edited film, so detailed and obvious, is the aesthetic thread of construction that is consistent in all of my work, regardless of the theme or subject. The providence of the process is visible in the cuts, the glue, and the scratches in the film, all adding depth and form to the work and inviting viewers to engage with the work on multiple levels.”
- David Bellard
ABOUT THE ARTIST
David Bellard was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the age of analog photography and above-ground street trolleys. Fascinated by film and design, he started learning and exploring these arts on analog cameras throughout his high school and university days - always more interested in how a photo or movie film could be used as a material to be physically altered.
Altering and rearranging images led him to a career in graphic design, crisscrossing the United States to work for DreamWorks in Los Angeles and The Cleveland Play House in Ohio, while in his spare time creating art, exhibiting in galleries, and completing a residency at Virginia Commonwealth University. He later spent eight years in Washington DC as a creative director for Rare - helping partner agencies around the world design and implement behavior change campaigns. His work is on display in many corporate collections across the United States. He now lives in Seattle, Washington and works full-time on his print compositions and commissioned projects with art consultants and designers across the United States.
Bellard's film and video work can be seen at his Vimeo Channel.
ARTIST CV
EXHIBITIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
2018
• Gallery 110, Seattle WA - “Human/Nature - 8th Annual Juried Show”
• Create Magazine - Feature in Issue 10 (Summer 2018)
• Northwest Film Forum - short film accepted into the 21st Annual Local Sightings Film Festival
2017
• East City Art/Pepco Edison Gallery, Washington DC - “Emulsion 2017”
• Black Blox Gallery, Portland, OR – “Color: Photography Now”
2016
• East City Art/Gallery O on H, Washington DC - “Emulsion 2016”
People’s Choice award winner
• Strathmore Mansion, MD - “Kaleidoscopes: 200 Years”
• Hill Center Gallery, Washington DC - “2016 Regional Juried Exhibition”
2015
• FCCA, VA - "Radius of Shadows" solo show
• Studio Gallery, Washington DC - "Emerging Artists"
• ArtDC Gallery, Washington DC - "WeTweetArt V.3.0"
• Washington Printmakers Gallery, Washington DC - "Excellence in Printmaking""
• Black Whiskey, Washington DC - “Black Whole”
• Artists Television Access, San Francisco CA - “Analogica Selections” Screening
• Washington ArtWorks, MD – September 2015 – “The Land”
• Washington Project for the Arts, DC – Sept 2015 – Dec 2015 – “Massing” solo show
• Shoot 8 Screening, Den Haag, Netherlands – October 2015 – “Shoot 8 Global Super 8 Day”
2014
• OpenStudios DC, Washington DC - "Moving Show"
• New York Center for Photographic Art, NY - "New Creativity"
• Hickock Cole/WPA, DC - "WPA Art Night 2014"
• FCCA, Fredercksburg, VA - "The Human Factor"
• Atsukobarouh Gallery, Tokyo, Japan - "Paper Pirates x Tokyo"
• Analogica Film Festival, Ora, Italy - "Analogica 2014"
• FotoWeek, Washington DC - "FotoBazaar 2014"
2013
• FotoWeek, Washington DC - November 2013 - "FotoBazaar 2013"
CORPORATE COLLECTIONS:
· Hunton & Williams, LLP
· The Candy Factory
· Davis Construction
· Kinzelman Art Consultants
RELATED EXPERIENCE:
JUROR
· “Op-Ed” – Art League Gallery, Alexandria, VA – October 2016
· Membership Panel Juror – Torpedo Factory, Alexandria, VA – March 2017
PROFESSIONAL
· Rare: Technical advisor to Rare’s social marketing programs around the world
· Rare: Producer for multimedia and communication projects in the U.S.
· Cleveland Play House: Art Director
· DreamWorks TV Animation: Assistant to President of TV Animation
· DreamWorks Consumer Products: Production Assistant
VOLUNTEER WORK
· Photographic Center NorthWest - Darkroom and Lab Assistant
· Smithsonian American Art Museum – Videoconference preseneter
· OpenStudios DC – resident artist
EDUCATION:
· BFA, Printmaking, Clarion University of Pennsylvania
· Artist Residency, Painting, Virginia Commonwealth University