Dave
Archer was born, David Archer Nelson, in San Luis Obispo,
California, January 15, 1941. He chose painting as his
profession in 1955 at the age of 14, subsequently graduating
high school in 1959 with a scholarship to study with nationally
known painter, Phil Paradise, both a founding member of the
"California Watercolor School," and a master (original print)
serigrapher.
When still known as David Nelson, the artist lived and
painted in San Francisco's bohemian North Beach area in the
1960's, supporting his art by working as doorman of a folk era
coffeehouse, which among others, featured entertainers Janis
Joplin, Hoyt Axton, and Steve Martin at the very beginning of
their professional careers. During this period Archer studied
with master of Chinese line painting, Rick Barton, (pupil of
Ozenfant in New York). In Barton's self-created school,
"Academia Vinciana, "Archer produced hundreds of lino-block
prints, including, in conjunction with Barton, a limited edition
book of such work (published by Beat painter Harold La Vigne ---
and in the Library of Congress --- titled: "The Penis Is An
Angry Face") and shown in its entirety of 48 block prints at the
famous Beat hangout, "City Lights Bookstore" in San Francisco.
Archer also studied with artists, Rebecca Worden (pottery /
painting / aesthetics), Maurice Lapp (painting), and eighty year
old, W.A. Chan T. G. (survival art, and "doing"). To quote the
painter, "These fine teachers were not assemblers of
cinderblocks wrapped in duct tape and dust-bunnies, but all
'visually based,' true artists --- magicians of the painter's
eye".
The 60's also included one year as technical director of the
Gallery Players Theater Group of San Miguel de Allende in
Mexico, as well as writing songs, creating comic posters,
greens-keeping a golf course, (as Dave says now, "a job so awful
I finally left while planning a murder"), two years in Alex
Horn's Gurdjieff group, along with sailing the Pacific Ocean on
the world's largest, fastest gaff-rigged schooner, the 161'
"Goodwill," winner of two Trans Pacific races using the
mightiest single sail in the world, a spinnaker, one quarter of
an acre in size.
1970 found David Archer Nelson in partnership with artist
Ronald Russell Cushing, at Cushing's instigation, researching
the ages old, yet little practiced technique of reverse glass
painting. The two artists founded a studio in Sonoma,
California, then combined their middle names, creating thus, the
"reclusive" artist "Russell Archer". This unusual effort of two
artists working together under an assumed name, often on the
same pieces, met with immediate success both in the studio and
at the outdoor art festivals they chose for their first
exhibits. "Russell Archer" produced paintings on glass for three
years at which time "he / they" evolved into separate studios
where each artist continued reverse glass painting, frequently
conferring, and both using their middle names, while dropping
"Cushing" and "Nelson," becoming thus: Ron Russell and Dave
Archer. In 1991 the artists exhibited their works together for
the first time in seventeen years at a heartfelt, heavily
attended reunion, which included a special exhibit of early
"Russell Archer" paintings.
"NORTHERN CALIFORNIA, HIGH-TECH FOLK ART, EARLY 21ST
CENTURY," is how Archer describes his own space paintings. Best
known worldwide for his pioneering effects using millions of
volts of "high frequency" electricity, Dave Archer's "signature"
technique developed from original experiments using a small
Tesla coil, both suggested, and loaned to Archer by friend Lee
Byrd --- the first painting session producing shouts of, "IT'S
ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE!".
Over the years Archer's Tesla coils have grown both larger
and finer. since the late 70's the artist's painting machines
have been designed and built by Mr. Bill Wysock, noted master
Tesla-coil engineer, builder and producer of special lightning
effects for countless Hollywood movies. Archer's coils are
unique in the world and specifically designed for his painting
needs. Working with a hand-held wand, million volt arcs are
freely manipulated from inches to nine feet in length: thus
influencing highly conductive water paints on glass (a great
insulator), achieving dynamic cloudy forms the artist refers to
at times as, "art storms". Planets, comets, and all other forms
are then painted by hand, using dozens of both common and
invented art techniques.
Among many other venues the artist's work has been exhibited
in San Francisco's De Young Museum, the Hayden Planetarium in
New York's Central Park, the Omni Magazine Art show in Chicago,
the Omniversum Museum in The Hague, AT&T World Headquarters at
550 Madison Avenue in New York, the Planetarium in Brussels,
Belgium, and many national and international art galleries.
Archer's million volt electric painting technique has been
featured in hundreds of local, national and international TV
shows including, "Eye to Eye With Connie Chung" --- "Beyond
2000" --- "Things To Come" --- and "You Asked For it".
His paintings were used on Star Trek ® - The Next Generation
as set decoration on the Starship Enterprise and in Star Trek®
VI - The Undiscovered Country, for which he received screen
credit. Book covers include Isaac Asimov's Fantasy and Larry
Niven's N-Space series. Archer's paintings were used as set
decoration on the Lucasfilm production, Howard the Duck --- as
Archer says, "Howard the quack, quack, quack". His work was also
featured in a six page article in Omni Magazine.
A STATEMENT BY DAVE ARCHER
Ron Russell (who taught me glass painting) and I, did not set
out to paint space art on glass, or paint with electricity. We
were simply experimenting, and some of our experiments tended
toward space dimensions --- and we liked the effect. Reverse
glass painting had this juicy, natural law, 3-D, wild-eye, magic
--- along with the sense of (hopefully) bringing something
completely new to reverse glass painting, and we recognized
that.
In keeping with the ways of my teachers, no matter how
electrically snazzy or outrageous some of my painting techniques
have become over the years, my chief interest has always
centered in questions painters ask themselves. For instance, why
and where to place "things" --- (in the case of space paintings,
planets, moons, clouds, etc.) --- in relation to the edges of
the glass, in order to "bring life" to the piece. My aim for
each picture is always to make a powerful art object. And by
"object," I mean a framed work with a wire on the back, and you
pound a nail in the wall and hang it, (and) --- breathe here ---
one where the various internal forms, colors, textures, etc.,
are in a "kickass relationship," with each other, AND
simultaneously, the EDGE of the piece --- considered immensely
important to me, be it square, rectangle or some oddball shape.
In other words, something painted on anything, with no relation
to the edges, is not an object of power, and with such a built
in weakness, cannot live through time for very long. And yes, of
course, the term "kickass relationship" is subjective and there
are always exceptions in art. As with dance however, painting
(or "art object making") is a form of nonverbal communication,
therefore, somewhat ridiculous to write about, which I suppose
is why most art magazines have a lot more words than pictures.
Jillions of column inches of trash compacted prose defining the
indefinable into blocks of heavy composite, all waiting their
turn in line for a truck to drive them to a landfill.
After a lifetime of painting I know this: a "rightly made"
art object is evergreen, as alive as a tree.
