@ Chinese House
45 Sisowath Quay (in front of container port)
Thursday Sep. 9, 19:00
David Richards was influenced by his mother’s sketches and paintings since childhood, and started painting with her encouragements at the age of 5 years old. Frequent visits to the museums of Cincinnati and New Orleans' inspired him to pursue a career of Fine Arts in college. His curiosity and maturing passion lead David to take as many courses as possible, ranging from drawing and graphic design to oil painting and sculpture, and ceramics and silversmithing.
Inspired by Gaugin, Rousseau, Gustav Klimt, Vermeer, Edward Hopper and Carravaggio amongst others, David Richards, started experimenting with water-color paint in California, but its only when he moved to Maui in 1986 that he immersed himself completely in his work. David painted everyday, often working on several projects at once, excited about the process of seeing his work being built over time.
His early painting from Maui in Hawaï, evolved around nature: oceans, jungle settings or sea life, but Richards then started a very popular series of paintings on mermaids. He has kept the sensuality and eroticism of these paintings in his new body of work "Phnom Penh Bars and Beyond," which depicts the contemporary night scene in Phnom' Penhs most notorious bars. His stay in South East Asia uncovered a fascination for decaying architecture, from French Colonial Buildings to old Chinese architecture, a feature which also strongly features in his work today.
