David Ireland (artist)

For other people named David Ireland, see David Ireland (disambiguation).

David Ireland
Born	David Kenneth Ireland, Jr. August 25, 1930 Bellingham, Washington
Died	May 17, 2009 San Francisco, California
Nationality	American
Education	Western Washington State University, BFA from California College of Arts and Crafts, MFA from San Francisco Art Institute, Laney College
Known for	sculpture, installation
Awards	N.E.A. Artist Fellowship grant, Adaline Kent Award, The Engelhard Award, Award from American Academy of Art, Rome, Italy

David Kenneth Ireland (August 25, 1930 - May 17, 2009) was an American artist and co-founder of the Capp Street Project artist residency.

Born in Bellingham, Washington, he studied Printmaking and Industrial Arts at California College of Arts and Crafts, prior to joining the Army in the early 1950s. After leaving the Army Ireland traveled Europe extensively, working as an illustrator, and eventually traveled to Africa to lead safaris. It was not until his 40s that Ireland decided to dedicate himself to work as a full-time artist. He returned to the United States and returned to school, this time at the San Francisco Art Institute. Upon graduating from the San Francisco Art Institute Ireland spent a year working in New York, before returning to settle in San Francisco.

Ireland is most well known for creating site-specific installation art pieces; most notably, his former residence at 500 Capp St. in San Francisco, where his work is also shown at Gallery Paule Anglim. Moving between two and three dimensions within the same sculptures, Ireland explores concepts of scale and vision. Known for his wide range of materials, works are made from paint cans, phone books, metal, cement, wood and, even the skull of a water buffalo.

In 1999, Ireland collaborated with sound artist GX Jupitter-Larsen remixing and re-recording tapes from the audio achieves of 500 Capp St. The outcome was released as a CD on Vinyl Communications.

To accompany Ireland's first solo exhibition in London, Ridinghouse published David Ireland: Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings. This catalogue features a selection of Ireland’s works from over four decades. A good introduction to the work of this fascinating artist, this publication also includes an essay by Kenneth Baker, art critic of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Sources

• Abby Wasserman

External links

• David Ireland: Sculptures, Paintings, Drawings
• Headlands Center for the Arts
• Capp Street Project artist residency, at CCA's Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts
• Video Tour of David Ireland's 500 Capp St. project, from the UC Berkeley Bancroft Archives.
• David Ireland at Gallery Paule Anglim
• Oral History of 500 Capp St., from UC Berkeley's Bancroft Archives.
• KQED Arts Spark Profile
• The Way Things Are: The Art of David Ireland Artist monograph, published by UC Berkeley Press
• The Way Things Are: The Art of David Ireland Exhibition page from the Oakland Museum of California, summarizing the 2004 retrospective exhibition of Ireland's work.
• Selected works by David Ireland in the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
• Interview with David Ireland by Terri Cohn
• 500 Capp Street Foundation

Book by Betty Klausner: "Touching Time and Space - a Portrait of David Ireland" 2003, www.chartartbooks.it