David Godbold

Working with drawing, painting, and mixed media, David Godbold examines the production, circulation, and reception of imagery in both high and low culture.

Biography of David Godbold

David Godbold was born in 1961. He completed his BA in Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, University of London, in 1984. He later earned a PhD in Fine Art and Visual Culture from NCAD, National University of Ireland, in 2007. 

Throughout his career, Godbold has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. His notable solo shows include "Nightfall - amplissium terrarum tractum" at Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast (2018), "More like living than life itself" at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin (2015), "A New Austerity" at Galerie Klüser in Munich (2011), "You can’t stay miserable forever (as much as you might like to)" at Stoney Road Press in Dublin (2010), among others.

Godbold's works have also been featured in group exhibitions held at various venues, including Luan Gallery in Athlone, Jing Gallery in Beijing, Earlsfort Terrace in Dublin, Von der Heydt-Museum in Wuppertal, Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Barbican Centre in London, Apexart in New York, and many more. 

Currently, the artist resides and works in Dublin.

David Godbold's Art Style

David Godbold's art is characterized by its unique amalgamation of drawing, painting, and mixed media. He scrutinizes imagery production, circulation, and reception by employing motifs from a wide range of sources such as old master paintings, religious icons, children's coloring books, comics, and satirical cartoons. His method involves mining the history of visual culture to find imagery that feels familiar and out of the ordinary in their new contexts.

Godbold overlays these eclectic fragments with daubs of paint, graffiti-like scrawlings, or snippets of text, creating chatty palimpsests that juxtapose antiquated imagery with irreverent, comical, or contemplative captions. His works range from large-scale canvases to small, irreverent pieces on discarded items like receipts, tickets, or shopping lists. By transforming everyday ephemera into art, Godbold desanctifies the holy and elevates the mundane. His work, noted for its cutting humour and philosophical depth, reflects a sense of beauty, wonder, and humility in the face of history.