David Surman

David Surman is a London-based artist. After studying animation at Newport Film School (2002) and film at Warwick University in 2004, he chose to focus on drawing and painting. 
'In my work, I use figurative forms, executed in a way that seems easy and immediate. I do this because I believe that art should be understood as something natural, like breathing, which comes spontaneously to everyone. In each work, my aim is to create a structure of thought and feeling that is both universal and specific. 
In recent years, I have become increasingly interested in the projection of human experience onto the natural world. I use elements of pathos and caricature in a calculated way to imbue figures with sincerity and irony, vividness and psychology. I also seek to challenge the hierarchies of taste and value that structure both art and our view of the natural world. Through humour, tenderness and pessimism, I show the precarious condition shared by all life on our radically changing planet.' 
The artist took part in 14 solo and group exhibitions in 2023, in galleries around the world. These included 
- Theo Gallery, Seoul
- Sens Gallery, Hong Kong
- Haricot Gallery, London
- Thamesmead, Texas