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Testimonial (Oliver Betz)

3/2/2016

A wonderful and kind testimonial.

I first saw David Booths pictures by chance in a department store in Dublin. David exhibited a series of oil paintings including "The Perfect Imperfect" at Brown Thomas.

David’s pictures immediately offer an almost magical eye-catcher. This may simply be a result of their formats, the master painting technique or due to their provocative colors. But in a department store there are many perfectly produced advertising images in tough competition. The fact that David's pictures prevail even in this environment is because they offer something very rare: Power and profundity. And these qualities act not only at first glance but, even after years.
My first picture of David "The Perfect Imperfect" is now hanging since several years in my living room and it still fascinates me in his aesthetics and composition. The hard cutted segment shows as a giant magnifying glass a portrait, which appears transcendent and profound in spite of its superficial brutal realism. The averted gaze of the ogled object gives his intimacy back, leaving him its secrets. The “Perfect Imperfect” tells the observer nothing directly but is also not able to hide his profundity. David’s title suggests that he finds the beauty and aesthetics in this depth and not in superficial masks that are constantly grinning to us from everywhere.
For a few weeks, I am pleased to have another Booth on my wall. "Eyoke" builds beautifully on to "The Perfect Imperfect". The picture is again of an outstanding craftsmanship quality. That's nice and a shame, because it indeed gives David’s pictures incredible elegance, but it makes them very rare. Again “Eyoke” is an eye catcher who snatches the viewer immediately, but then does not dismiss him again for a long time.

“Eyoke” shows a group of people who apparently brings a piece of music together. But the Group is not really an amalgamation but rather a combination of individuals. In the dark scene, some are involved, some are outside. One holds the micro but others also want to the fore. There are viewers and actors. The image is real and surreal at the same time. Striking areas act like reflective glass planes. Colored neon Islands, surreally break through the darkness of the scene. Horizontals and verticals divide the format without real materialism. Also in “Eyoke” individuals do not disclose their secrets and apply not to the viewer. “Eyoke” gives the viewer marks like an empty beer glass and "the armband of the censor". One will also find unreal signs like the strange capsule of the microphone and the "floating eyes". I am not sure, what David is trying to express with those and I believe this is not really important: Important is their powerful effect in the inner eye of the beholder.

Eyoke is a true masterpiece. It combines technical perfection, powerful composition and a transcendent profundity. Very few contemporary artists are able to deliver such a picture quality. David Booth is.

Oliver Betz, Collector, Munich

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