Old Art, New Meanings – David Shand | CYD #11 – Nosakhari

David Shand collates meaning from the remains of advertising billboards that most of us barely notice. While he has been an artist for as long as he can remember (his earliest memory of art is of sketching a bridge with a pink felt-tip pen as a five year old), screen-printing is a relatively recent artistic development. It began when, catching public transport through London every day, he became fascinated by the observable decay of adverts on the streets. It’s a phenomenon he watched with as much satisfaction as appreciation – as well as being artistically interesting, witnessing the imagery we are forced to consume on a daily basis slowly lose its commercial meaning was part of the attraction for David.

Taking inspiration from Peter Blake’s cigarette case screen-printings and the Situationists of the 50s and 60s, David realised that art can be as diverse as its creators – and that even his photographs of ripped posters could be worked into something with artistic value. This is when he turned to collage-making and screen-printing to forge creative stories, and he has never looked back.

Documenting and amalgamating the raw material of London’s streets, he has carved a niche for himself immortalising fading adverts in abstract prints. Playing around with materials to subvert and further change their original intended messages has become a way of making sense of the world and engaging those around him. And it’s never a chore – making art is a need, screen-printing a craving.