David Ralph

Born 1963, Warrnambool, Victoria

The duplicity apparent in the cheating heart of post–modernity is again invoked in the only other painter in the Samstag class of 2000, David Ralph. The denotative aspect of Ralph's work seamlessly connects formalist photography, photo–realist painting, and the longevity of the surrealist impulse, while connoting a post–Watergate vision of architecturally inspired conspiracy theories, dreamscape settings of a corporate noir, the silences of which are eloquent of an interior monologue on the condition of late capitalism.

The style and technique of Ralph's work mimics the smooth and invisible workings of the modern corporate sector, however these interiors have a distinct retro, even metro look, their aesthetic functionalism the product of a time which perceived of 1984 as the future.

James Moss from his Samstag catalogue essay, The World is not Enough
 
2000 Anne & Gordon Samstag International Visual Arts Scholarship
2000 MFA, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London, UK 
1998 Master of Fine Art by Research (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne 
1985 Bachelor of Fine Art (Painting), Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne 

Artist's website
http://www.david-ralph.com/