David Band is no chromophobe. In fact colour is the constant that has driven his art practice for more than twenty years. Colour - vivid and physical - leads the conversation with shape and form across a range of subjects from still life to pure abstraction.
Read MoreBand's influences are not surprisingly just as diverse as his subjects, spanning 1950s design, French still life painting, American abstract expressionism and jazz. He speaks of ideas kicking around for some time before taking up the offer of bringing them to life. Band's adherence to a formal methodology can be traced to his training at the acclaimed Glasgow School of Art, followed by further study at the Royal College of Art in London. The Glaswegian curriculum prioritized drawing and the persistence of this early training can be found in Band's experimental works using string and spirographs as drawing tools and subjects.
Before moving to Australia in 1986 Band combined his art practice with running a successful design studio (he was commissioned in the early 80s to make a series of drawings and paintings for albums by Spandau Ballet). Today Band continues to balance these two disciplines; his design work liberates him from an attachment to a particular medium in his art making (his recent work has seen him move from two dimensions into three) and his design practice is constantly enriched by his striving towards simplicity.
