David Maxim
American
(Los Angeles, California, 1945 - )
David Maxim was born on May 11, 1945 in Los Angeles, California. Maxim’s relationship with art began at a very young age. As a child, he excelled in painting and drawing and was often praised by his teachers for his talents and artistic ability. However, by the time he reached high school, Maxim had decided to pursue an academic career.(1) After graduating from high school in 1962, he elected to major in Art History at UCLA for both his Bachelors and his Masters Degrees. Upon completion of his Masters of Art degree, Maxim was immediately hired by his alma mater to teach art history; however, as he had not been able to paint for years due to his academic commitments, he developed a sudden and strong urge to make art, and he left this position after one year. Maxim took time to travel in South America, mainly residing in Peru, dedicating this period to painting in order “to get it out of [his] system.”(2) Ultimately, his year abroad did not clarify any of his uncertainties about his artistic and vocational interests, so after returning to California, Maxim elected to pursue a Ph.D. in Art History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. However, six months into his program, Maxim came to the realization that he had to start making art again—to be an active part in the process of artmaking instead of remaining an observer.(3) With the help of an acquaintance, he obtained a part-time job at Santa Barbara City College teaching art history classes, and with this income he was able to support his nascent career as an artist. While teaching, he started exploring his first painting style and began a series of “photo-derived” images of the Himalayas.(4) After six years of living in Santa Barbara, Maxim felt too confined. As a gay artist in the 1970s, he felt limited by the smaller community artistically, emotionally and sexually. He felt that eroticism and sensuality were very much at the core of his art and a requirement for the process of developing his own painting. Thus, in 1976, Maxim moved to San Francisco, where the culture was more permissive and nurturing, in order to evolve and broaden his career as an artist. He has lived there ever since. Maxim’s strong interest in drawing and the human figure began in 1984 when he organized a drawing group that met weekly to draw from a model.(5) It was during these figure-drawing sessions that Maxim developed his graphic abilities and fully realized the value of drawing. Maxim mainly drew male models, most likely, as the artist suggests, because of an erotic interest in the male figure.(6) This emphasis on the masculine and the male figure has appeared in his other works as well. Maxim has created hundreds upon hundreds of drawings that range from delicate and detailed to very gestural sketches. Maxim’s work has consistently conveyed a romantic philosophy, referring to traditional or classical themes of the universe in his paintings and sculptures.(7) The artist has also incorporated the figure, particularly the male figure, into his sculptural paintings and his freestanding sculpture as well. (1) Maxim said in an interview with the MMFA on June 28, 2011, “My parents told me, ‘you definitely won’t be making a living as an artist; you have to think of something serious.’…I was happy to do an academic career, even into college.” Transcript of interview in the MMFA Library Vertical File, Maxim, David. (2) Maxim stated in an interview with the MMFA, “but after a year of teaching… I really had to try making art… I painted in Peru, trying to get it out of my system.” (3) Maxim stated in an interview with the MMFA, “It seemed to me that history of art above a Master’s level was so speculative… it was all theoretical and didn’t seem to relate much to fact. So I wanted to go ahead and make art… Art became the only alternative.” (4) Blunt, Nicole. Maxim, David. The Light of Change. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2011. (5) “I had always loved looking at figure drawings, but I felt fearful of the act of making a drawing, and I saw myself as completely incompetent. I vowed to change those perceived short-comings.” Maxim, David. Figure Drawings. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2010. (6) “There is an erotic interest here. I don’t think I’m out on a limb to say that straight, male artists predominantly draw women more often than men. Gay artists such as myself, I believe, are likely to do the opposite, as indeed I have done.” Maxim, David. Figure Drawings. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2010. (7) “Themes of human foibles and relationships, power, time, death, and the mystery of existence are as evident in the small-scale works as in the larger ones, while the fragility and vulnerability of man are made even more emphatic. Indeed, the subjects Maxim chooses are age old, and he has often sought art historical precedents as models for his work.” Sobeck, Marcy. Maxim, David. Figure and Stage. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2010.
American
(Los Angeles, California, 1945 - )
David Maxim was born on May 11, 1945 in Los Angeles, California. Maxim’s relationship with art began at a very young age. As a child, he excelled in painting and drawing and was often praised by his teachers for his talents and artistic ability. However, by the time he reached high school, Maxim had decided to pursue an academic career.(1) After graduating from high school in 1962, he elected to major in Art History at UCLA for both his Bachelors and his Masters Degrees. Upon completion of his Masters of Art degree, Maxim was immediately hired by his alma mater to teach art history; however, as he had not been able to paint for years due to his academic commitments, he developed a sudden and strong urge to make art, and he left this position after one year. Maxim took time to travel in South America, mainly residing in Peru, dedicating this period to painting in order “to get it out of [his] system.”(2) Ultimately, his year abroad did not clarify any of his uncertainties about his artistic and vocational interests, so after returning to California, Maxim elected to pursue a Ph.D. in Art History at the University of California at Santa Barbara. However, six months into his program, Maxim came to the realization that he had to start making art again—to be an active part in the process of artmaking instead of remaining an observer.(3) With the help of an acquaintance, he obtained a part-time job at Santa Barbara City College teaching art history classes, and with this income he was able to support his nascent career as an artist. While teaching, he started exploring his first painting style and began a series of “photo-derived” images of the Himalayas.(4) After six years of living in Santa Barbara, Maxim felt too confined. As a gay artist in the 1970s, he felt limited by the smaller community artistically, emotionally and sexually. He felt that eroticism and sensuality were very much at the core of his art and a requirement for the process of developing his own painting. Thus, in 1976, Maxim moved to San Francisco, where the culture was more permissive and nurturing, in order to evolve and broaden his career as an artist. He has lived there ever since. Maxim’s strong interest in drawing and the human figure began in 1984 when he organized a drawing group that met weekly to draw from a model.(5) It was during these figure-drawing sessions that Maxim developed his graphic abilities and fully realized the value of drawing. Maxim mainly drew male models, most likely, as the artist suggests, because of an erotic interest in the male figure.(6) This emphasis on the masculine and the male figure has appeared in his other works as well. Maxim has created hundreds upon hundreds of drawings that range from delicate and detailed to very gestural sketches. Maxim’s work has consistently conveyed a romantic philosophy, referring to traditional or classical themes of the universe in his paintings and sculptures.(7) The artist has also incorporated the figure, particularly the male figure, into his sculptural paintings and his freestanding sculpture as well. (1) Maxim said in an interview with the MMFA on June 28, 2011, “My parents told me, ‘you definitely won’t be making a living as an artist; you have to think of something serious.’…I was happy to do an academic career, even into college.” Transcript of interview in the MMFA Library Vertical File, Maxim, David. (2) Maxim stated in an interview with the MMFA, “but after a year of teaching… I really had to try making art… I painted in Peru, trying to get it out of my system.” (3) Maxim stated in an interview with the MMFA, “It seemed to me that history of art above a Master’s level was so speculative… it was all theoretical and didn’t seem to relate much to fact. So I wanted to go ahead and make art… Art became the only alternative.” (4) Blunt, Nicole. Maxim, David. The Light of Change. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2011. (5) “I had always loved looking at figure drawings, but I felt fearful of the act of making a drawing, and I saw myself as completely incompetent. I vowed to change those perceived short-comings.” Maxim, David. Figure Drawings. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2010. (6) “There is an erotic interest here. I don’t think I’m out on a limb to say that straight, male artists predominantly draw women more often than men. Gay artists such as myself, I believe, are likely to do the opposite, as indeed I have done.” Maxim, David. Figure Drawings. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2010. (7) “Themes of human foibles and relationships, power, time, death, and the mystery of existence are as evident in the small-scale works as in the larger ones, while the fragility and vulnerability of man are made even more emphatic. Indeed, the subjects Maxim chooses are age old, and he has often sought art historical precedents as models for his work.” Sobeck, Marcy. Maxim, David. Figure and Stage. San Francisco: David Maxim, 2010.
Artist Objects
