Fabliaux

Fabliaux explores the characters of French fabliaux, fairy tales, and folklore, with keen interest in literary works including the 1175, Le Roman de Renart by Pierre de Saint Cloud and Charles Perrault’s Le Maistre Chat, ou Le Chat Botté.  Works in this series combine realist figures and iconic silhouettes, installed as a collection.  Additional influences on this body of work include the photographs of Dada artist Man Ray.

Fabliaux comes as a response to traveling the Cote d'Azur with my wife.  The color palette is greatly influenced by the French Mediterranean coastline.  Through these paintings, characters from historical literature are illustrated, casting in each role the people, animals, and images contemporary to my own experiences.

Fleur de lis compliment this series, utilizing a compound of ground marble and resin, mimicking architectural details and decorative concrete works found throughout France and cities of French influence. Fabliaux is the fourth series of paintings developing the use of such techniques proceeded by The Arcana (2005), Tzolkin (2007), and The Ragnarok Project (2009).  Included in the 2010 series Fabliaux are the collections Fabliaux (based on Le Roman de Renart) and Fabliaux: Le Maistre Chat (a study of the work of Charles Perrault.)

David Burns Smith earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from Memphis College of Art in 2000. back