David Carmack Lewis Works
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Oregon
Mr. Lewis was born and raised in Virginia but his fine art career began after moving to Arizona in the 1990s. He has also lived in Wales, New York, Maine and Namibia but for the last two decades, he has called Oregon home, where he continues to obsess over the real vs. the imagined and the sense of mystery in ordinary places.
“My most recent body of work draws on sketches of real places from my journals and reinterprets them as night scenes using dramatic lighting, often glowing from somewhere in the foreground, perhaps from the headlights of a car, or the bright flames of a campfire, or as if the light is shining directly from the viewer’s gaze. The light transforms the tableau into a kind of stage set, suggesting the tension of something imminent, a mystery to be explored.
I grew up fascinated by myths, folktales and ghost stories. Later I fell in love with the natural sciences. Both have one thing in common. They prompt us to think about the world in new and surprising ways. Whether I’m pursuing true stories or tall tales, my work tries to convey both the wonder and the disquieting uncanniness inherent in everything around us.”
Awards and Honors:
2023 Purchase Award, Behavioral Health & Resource Center, Mulnomah county, Oregon
2021 “Public Art Grant”, Regional Arts and Culture Council
2020 Playa Artist Residency
2019“Professional Development Grant”, Regional Arts and Culture Council
2018 First Place Award “Expressions West”, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR
2017 “Career Opportunity Grant”, The Ford Family Foundation & The Oregon Arts Commission
2016 “Public Art Grant”, Regional Arts and Culture Council
2015 “People’s Choice Award”, West Coast Biennial, Redding CA
2012-2014 Art In Embassies Program, Abuja, Nigeria & Abidjan, Ivory Coast
2013 Playa ArtistAlumni Residency
2012 Playa Artist Residency
2011 First Place Award “Expressions West”, Coos Art Museum
2009 Special Juror’s Award “Around Oregon” Corvallis Arts Center - Corvallis OR
Publications:
Seconde Main, a book of 13 Ekphrastic Poems by Michel Lagrange based on my paintings, 2023
Studio Visit Magazine #51, 2023
The State Journal Sept. 19, 2021
Boise Weekly Oct. 21, 2020
Idaho Statesman May 28, 2020
Parade Magazine, July 26, 2019
Studios Visit Magazine #32, 2016
Studio Visit Magazine #25, 2014
Blue Canvas Magazine #9, 2011
River Styx Magazine #83, 2010
Featured artist on MyArtSpace.com 2010
Featured artist on vivianite.net 2009
Featured artist on Artdoxa.com 2009
Open Space Magazine Vol. 6, No. 3, 2004
Solo Exhibitions:
2023 Delia Dante Gallery, Boise ID
2021 Central Oregon Community College, Bend OR (Recent works on paper)
2020 Attic Gallery, Camas WA (Selected paintings from 2019 Coos Art Museum Exhibit)
2019 “Narratives & Metaphors”, Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR (featuring recent and pastworks of magical realism exploring the use of narrative and metaphor, among the oldest tools of art, to find new ways of seeing and thinking about the familiar)
2015–2017 “A God in the Hearth” (A visual essay exploring the deep human connection to fire and the implications of fossil fuels by comparing and contrasting images of campfires, wildfires, coal mines, engines and power plants)
2017 “A God in the Hearth” The Arts Center, Corvallis OR
2017 “A God in the Hearth” Blue MountainCommunity College, Pendleton OR
2016 “A God in the Hearth” Portland Community College, Portland OR
2015 “A God in the Hearth” Olympic Mills Exhibition Space
2002–2014 Attic Gallery, Portland OR (annual show of new work)
2008 Rogue Community College, Grants Pass OR
2007 Lane Community College, Eugene OR
2007 Blue Heron Gallery, Vashon Island WA
2005 “Story Time” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ (Paintings exploring the potential of implied narratives in painting)
2003 “Alone Time” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ (A collection of work about embracing solitude)
2002 “Translations” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ
2001 “Possible Text” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ (Viewers were invited to contribute their own titles to intentionally ambiguous narrative paintings)
1999 “African tales” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ (A series of paintings of various African animals in a small empty room, painted in anticipation of a year long trip to that continent)
1998 “Speaking with Hands” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ (Personal narratives using figures manipulating hand puppets and marionettes
1998 “Unknown Arcana” - Pitre Exhibition Space, Phoenix AZ (Inventions based loosely on the ideas of major arcana tarot images)
1998 “Unknown Arcana” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ
1997 “Psychodramas” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ A series of paintings based on interior psychological struggles and dysfunction
1996 “Middle Aged Tales” - Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ (Figurative paintings informed in part by both modern and medieval drawing styles
1996 “A Period of Transition” - Kaos Galley, Phoenix AZ
1993 “Still Lives” - Alwun House, Phoenix AZ
Group Exhibitions:
2023 - “New Frontiers Juried Art Show and Sale” - Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, Cheyenne WY
2023 “Coors Western Art Exhibit” - Western National Center, Denver CO
2022 “New Frontiers Juried Art Show and Sale” - Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum, Cheyenne WY
2022 “61st Annual Stockton Art League Juried Exhibition” - Haggin Museum, Stockton CA
2022 “Left Coast Annual Juried Exhibition” - Sanchez Art Center, Pacifica CA
2022 “Shock of the New West”, Tubac Center for the Arts, Tubac AZ
2022 “6x6” - Grants Pass Art Museum, Grants Pass OR
2022 “Natural Habitats” - Cabrillo Gallery, Aptos CA
2022 “Around Oregon Annual” - The Arts Center, Corvallis OR
2022 “Coors Western Art Exhibit” - Western National Center, Denver CO
2021 “Abandoned” - ARTSpace Gallery, Lake Oswego OR
2021 “Artswork Northwest Biennial”- Umpqua Valley Arts, Roseburg OR
2021 “Blue” - O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley CA
2019 “Chasing Ghosts IV” - Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland OR
2018 “Expressions West” -Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR
2018 “Fierce and Frail” - Verum Ultimum Gallery, Portland OR
2017 “Representing the West” - Sangre de Cristo Art Center, Pueblo CO
2016 “Expressions West; 2016” - Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR
2015 “Expressions West
2015 “Expressions West” - Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR
2015 “West Coast Biennial” - Turtle Bay Exploration Park,Redding CA
2015 “Build It” - i.d.e.a. Museum, Mesa AZ
2014 “Art Convergence 2014” - PortAngeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles WA
2014 “The Northwest Experience” - ClymerMuseum, Ellensburg WA
2011 “Edge of Night” - Artswest, Seattle WA
2011 “Expressions West”- Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR
2011 “Fresh Air” - Visual Arts Center, Boise State University,Boise ID
2010 “Expressions West” - Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay OR
2010 “Away” - The ArtCenter, Corvallis OR
2009 “Around Oregon” - The Art Center, Corvallis OR
2009 “Trial by Fire”- George Fox University, Newberg OR
2008 Gallery 344, Kalamazoo MI
2007 “10th Annual Juried Exhibit” - City of Gresham Visual Arts Gallery, Gresham OR
2007 “Oregon Visions” -Artcentric, Corvallis OR
2007 “Personal Narratives, Intimate Allegories” - Cascade Art Gallery PCC, Portland OR
2006 “Around Oregon” - The Art Center, Corvallis OR
2006 “Figures From Life” - Maude Kearns Art Center, Eugene OR
2001 “31st Willamette Valley Juried Exhibition” - Corvallis Art Center, Corvallis OR
2001 “Art Detour XIII” - Holgas Gallery, Phoenix AZ
2000 Hout Bay Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
1999 “Mammals, Critters, Fish or Fowl” - ShemerArt Center, Phoenix AZ
1999 “Art Detour XI Juried Winners Show” - Artlink, Phoenix AZ
1999 “Art Detour XI” - 411 building, House Studios Exhibition, Phoenix AZ
1998 “Artlink Annual Juried Show” - Artlink, Phoenix AZ
1998 “Solar Lobotomy” - MARS Artspace, Phoenix AZ
1997 “La Phoeniquera XVII” - MARS Artspace, Phoenix AZ
1995 “Art Detour VII” - Central Artists’ Gallery, Phoenix AZ
Murals:
2023 “Prairie Fire” - 166 N. Aberdeen St., Chicago IL - 160’ wide x 35’ high - Budget $40,000 - Funder by Greystar
2023 “Around the Corner” - 109 W. Silver Springs Blvd., Ocala FL - 60’ wide x 20’ high - Budget: $25,000 - Funded by the Franklin County Arts Commission
2021 “Gravity” - 8400 N. Kellogg St., Portland OR - 170’ wide x 18’ high - Budget: $34,000 - Funded by a grant from the Regional Arts & CultureCouncil & Community Fundraising
2020 “Over the Valley” - Key Financial Center, 702 W. Idaho St., Boise ID - 56’ wide x 130’ high - Budget: $85,000 - Funded by Rafanelli & Rahas LLC
2018 “Absence & Presence” - The Fowler Apts., 505 W. Broad St. Boise ID - 170’ wide x 40’ high - Budget total: $60,000 - Funded by Local Construct LLC
2017 “The Big Backyard'' - The Watercooler Apts., 1401 W. Idaho St., Boise ID - 50’ wide x40’ high - Budget total: $27,000 - Funded by LocalConstruct LLC
2016 “Constellation'' - 825 N. Cook St., Portland OR - 80’ wide x 25’ high - Budget total: $31,000 - Funded by a grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council & Community Fundraising
Education & Training:
1987-1991 Staff Artist - Richmond New Leader & Richmond Times Dispatch · Richmond VA
1984-1988 Virginia Commonwealth University - Richmond VA (BFA)
1986 South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education - Cardiff, Wales, UK (Printmaking)
1983-1984 Virginia Tech - Blacksburg VA (Studio Arts)
Representation:
Attic Gallery, Camas WA 2015-2021;
Attic Gallery, Portland OR 2003-2014;
Gallery 344,Kalamazoo MI 2008-2009;
Art One Gallery, Scottsdale AZ 1996-2007;
Hout Bay Gallery, CapeTown, South Africa 1999-2000