Whimsical and organic, David Horgan’s paintings are based on overheard conversations

Working out of his Brixton studio, David Horgan is an artist who manages to find inspiration on his doorstep. Focusing on the “enmeshment of everyday life”, David seeks out soundbites of conversations and local characters to feature in his work, which he then intermingles with references to pop culture and iconography. Fittingly, he looks up to similar artistic purveyors of the everyday like Henry Taylor, Danny Fox, Chantal Joffe.

David uses a range of mediums and techniques, with spray paint, pastels, oil sticks and “anything [he] can get his hands on” all popping up on his canvases. However, his primary tool is acrylic paint for “the immediacy of it which suits my fast-paced style”, David says. Much like his physical practice, when approaching portraiture, David favours an organic approach and isn’t too concerned with “accurate depictions”. He concludes: “I try to capture and express a feeling and to tell the subject’s story, which tends to grow organically in an unplanned spontaneous manner.”