David Connearn's Earnests: Sweat & Blood, 1980-81 features in Material Concerns at LifeSpace.

This pair of drawings was first shown in the exhibition The Intelligence of Drawing, at Graeme Murray Gallery in 1992 and form part of the Alan Woods Bequest. Alan Woods (1956-2000) was a lecturer in History and Theory at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design from 1989 and the University was gifted the over 300 works in his collection which include, in addition to these, works by Susan Hiller, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Ian Howard, Will Maclean and many of Alan’s students.

David has told us that the origin of these works was a series of larger works made for an exhibition called Salt and Water, at Victoria Miro Gallery in 1987, in which he made drawings using various liquids collected 'from nature', and extreme dilutions of colour. In his words, “More than half the work was invisible unless you knew what to look for.”

David Connearn (b.1952) lives and works in London. He studied History at Cambridge and sculpture at Camberwell School of Art and The Slade. He worked as an assistant to artist Sol LeWitt, and won the Jerwood Prize in 2000. His practice has always consisted of freehand drawing within set parameters such as the material or ink – starting at the top of the page and replicating the first line in a systematic but inherently imperfect process. In addition to his drawings, he also has designed and built several buildings and has been working to support, protect and conserve the legacy of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s House in Skjolden Norway.

On loan from University of Dundee Museum Services.