blueprints into fully realized gouache sketches of buildings, often set in landscapes of his own invention. In 1986, Davis made the life-altering decision to paint full time. “I was ready to do something that was not conceptual and to move away from small tight renderings. It was a natural transition from architectural illustration to painted cityscapes—after all, they had cars, architecture, everything I liked.” One of his first large-scale works was Paris Rain, painted from a slide taken twenty years earlier on a student trek through Europe—“when it could be done on $5 a day,” he adds, smiling. Paris Rain won first place in a painting competition, earning Davis a one-man show in a New York gallery. His new career was launched.
Mulberry St., 2001, Oil on canvas, 48" x 60"
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It was a natural transition from architectural illustration to painted cityscapes—after all, they had cars, architecture, everything I liked.
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That same year, he took an extended trip to New York City. “Part of the time I just wanted to be a tourist,” Davis remembers. “I would hop the subway to Coney Island or ride the ferry out to Staten Island just to enjoy the vistas of the city from a distance.” The streets of New York became the subject for thousands of 35mm color photographs—and the source material of paintings for years to come. “I knew from that first trip that I needed to be in the city to capture its energy in my paintings,” and for the next six years he split his time between Nashville and New York, staying with friends and working in a borrowed studio on the upper west side for two months at a time. “I visited museums to study the work of the old masters and the impressionists and went to the Soho galleries to see the work of contemporary artists.” He was particularly drawn to the urban landscapes of photorealist painters Richard Estes, Ralph Goings, and Robert Bechtle. However, Davis was not interested in emulating their sharp-focus realism, preferring instead a more painterly approach that combines realism with impressionistic brushwork. Similarly, he avoided a direct replication of the photograph by making alterations to the image in stages, first in his drawing of the photograph and then in his painting of the drawing. Davis partly attributes his success in making a living as a painter to understanding the importance of networking. Through Nashville artist John Baeder he formed a friendship with John Kacere, one of the original photorealists of the 1970s. Later, an introduction to renowned art dealer Ivan C. Karp led to a long-term association with New York’s Gallery Henoch. Today, at almost 70, Davis is truly freewheeling, freed from gallery ties and the dictates of the art market. “I’m just doing things for myself, and if others like it, that’s icing on the cake.” What’s next? Davis answers slowly, “Well, I painted New York for a long time. I feel like I’ll paint car parts for a number of years. I’ve been thinking about wire wheels . . . you know, a hub with a few of the spokes coming out from the center. . . . ”
Pete's NE, 2010, Oil on canvas, 20" x 16" 28 | June 2O12 NashvilleArts.com
Bill Davis’s work can be seen and purchased through his website at www.billdavis.org.