David Viney
About the artist
David, graduated with a BA (Hons) in Visual Art by Negotiated Study, First class honours. His work has included collaborations with various lecturers including video production, web design work and photography.
From 2001-2004 David was a freelance web designer. Commissions included work for On/Off London Fashion Week, Justin Oh fashion designer, ReFresh magazine and several websites for arts events and individual artists.
He has showcased his work in a range of exhibitions including the Grief at Birmingham Cathedral as part of World Aids Day Memorial and Melt, a group show at The Custard Factory in Birmingham in 2007. Alongside his exhibitions David has published his work in a variety of magazines such as Zone magazine & Bent Magazine.
David is currently a digital image maker based in Birmingham. David was commissioned by Multistory project ‘Cohesion’ in 2007. He is also a member of the Birmingham World Aids Day steering group, responsible for art installations in Selfridges, The Mailbox and also commissioning relevant work for the BBC big screen in Victoria Square with the aim of raising awareness of HIV issues across the city.
He is a Project Officer for Gay Birmingham Remembered, an oral history archival project and an Artist/Manager for Out of the Shadows, queer arts event for Birmingham Pride. A trustee of Birmingham based charity, Abplus, which deals with people living with or affected by HIV and a trustee with the Birmingham Pride Community Trust, a strategic body for the LGBT community in the city.
Work Profile
Transformiste
As part of David’s degree he began creating studio shots of drag queens. The work tended to be studio shots for publicity and promotions. His work explores the transformation from male to ‘female’ using digital techniques including still digital photography and video animation, focusing on the face and the make up used to give the illusion of femininity.
The projected video pieces consist of hundreds of still images taken of the subject applying makeup, these are sequenced at short one second intervals; giving the appearance of a stop animation film.
David feels that using stills photography gives a greater scope to capture aspects of the male and personality than using straight video will show the construction of the façade in a more intriguing and illuminating light.
The work is not simply voyeuristic as he consults with the drag artist from concept so as to infuse the final product with the performer’s personality, capturing traits of the man and the performer as the process rolls along.
Although not shown in this work itself he accesses the ‘drag queen’ community, nationally and internationally, for research purposes via the internet.
