Thamesmead Texas is pleased to present: Horses, a Unicorn and a Donkey, a new solo exhibition of paintings and prints by British artist David Surman. For the first time we bring together a collection of work dedicated to Surman’s long obsession with the horse and its various guises.
When Scully and Scully set up Thamesmead Texas, the name for their project was born from their initial encounter with Thamesmead. “First, we saw the grey towers, then tethered to a tree against the green grass was a horse, there were many horses tethered to buildings, roundabouts and bridges around Thamesmead, a practice frowned upon by councils as fly grazing. We then walked some more and encountered the horses on Erith Marshes, with its cinematic skies and marshland Thamesmead felt very far away, very wild west, very Texas.”
Thamesmead Texas has always endeavoured to deliver exhibitions and events with a local relevance. Through our Thamesmead Travelling Cinema and roaming exhibition spaces, we have celebrated Romany Gypsy and Traveller culture on many occasions, as for hundreds of years before Thamesmead was conceived, it was the Romany Gypsy that lived and worked on this land, a culture under continuous threat from tabloid media and successive governments.
When first encountering Surman’s horse paintings, initially through Instagram, Liam Scully was instantly hooked by the vitality and freedom of the work and organised to visit the artists studio in Deptford, Southeast London. “I did not go to the studio with an exhibition in mind, as a painter myself I was more interested in seeing, in the flesh what looked to be like pretty good paintings”. It was only through this visit that Surman explained he is from Traveller descent, which perhaps made sense as to why he is such an extraordinary hand at painting these animals. Surman clearly knows his art history and his subject very well to be able to draw directly from his imagination, with a fluidity and freedom of a great painter. The very horses we see in his paintings are secured in the artists psyche from a rural British childhood, yet they are backed up by a lifelong commitment to art making.
Over several hours of chatting and looking through Surman’s work “it was quickly apparent that his work would have strong appeal with audiences across the spectrum back in Thamesmead, and quickly I wanted to secure his interest in doing something together”. Surman explained it is important for his painting to “connect with both art and non-art audiences”. At Thamesmead Texas we think accessibility is the key to opening up any debate, and living in Thamesmead we have a unique opportunity to introduce great art to those who may never have stepped foot in an art gallery before.
For Summer 2023 Thamesmead Texas takes up residence in Unit 5, 1 Nest Way, a vacant shop unit in Cygnet Square. The first in a series of exhibitions, David Surman directly intervenes in the commercial shop unit, mapping the space with a yellow ochre line drawing. This mural creates the setting for Horses, A Unicorn and a Donkey, where a collection of paintings spanning several years adorns the walls.
Curated by Scully & Scully. Supported by Thamesmead Community Fund.
DAVID SURMAN (b. 1981) is an artist based in London. He studied animation film at Newport Film
School (2002) and film studies at the University of Warwick (2004). Working primarily in painting and drawing, he has established an international reputation for his figurative works that feature striking kinetic compositions of animal, plant and human forms. Surman’s work celebrates the vitality of its subjects and painting as a medium. Recent solo exhibitions include: Portraits of a Wild Family, SENS Gallery, Hong Kong (2022), Carousel, Tinimini Room, Dordrecht (2022), Fairy Painting, Sim Smith, London (2021).
