David Stern

Hi David! Please tell us what are you working on, what’s coming up for you, and about your Fiscally Sponsored project.

I am trying to complete some larger paintings before I leave for a couple of months to work in Germany in order to create a body of work there which will be shown in Berlin and London, starting this fall. The exhibition, “The American Years” 1995-2008, fiscally sponsored by NYFA, is scheduled to travel to Charleston SC, in 2010 and then on to Phoenix, both venues are liberal art school college museums and it’s kind of exciting to be in contact with young artists, relating some of my experience and learning from them as well.

How do you start on a project?

I am a studio painter, so although my influences and interests are spurred by living in this incredible dense city, I start my paintings without preconceived concepts or goals. My paintings are figurative and I like to throw a flat grayish intuitive composition in fluid paint on the canvas within a few minutes, then I sit back and let that composition talk back to me. Slowly over some months during a kind of conversational process things develop and the painting arrives at a state where the feeling should ideally be, that it fell into being.

What is an indulgence for you?

Switching off daily involvement in life, and live and work for some months without reality knocking on my door every five minutes.

What is your studio/workspace like?

Well, it’s a large industrial space, with 2 “working bays”, both have head walls approximately 16-18 feet wide. I am working on both walls usually and have some tables on wheels, which serve as “palettes”.

Is there anything that you'd like to see addressed more adequately by artists service and funding organizations? If so, how might this issue be addressed?

I believe that although we have these great organizations like NYFA, not all support for the arts can be done without the help of the federal/states governments. I find it somewhat disturbing that the leading country in the Western World does not have a cabinet post for arts and culture. I think it’s time for organizations like NYFA to lobby for such a post and an adequate budget for it. The recent $ 50 million dedicated to the Endowment for the Arts seem pale in light of the 800 billion financial stimulus bill.

What role has Fiscal Sponsorship played in your life?

I stumbled upon the opportunities NYFA is offering by chance and have to say that this project “The American Years” which Karen Wilkin, who is the curator of the show, planned and envisioned as early as in 2000, would not have been possible without the financial opportunities that fiscal sponsoring is offering. Specially in this economic climate, we need an instrument which makes it easier for sponsors and patrons to step in and contribute. I also enjoy to be part of the NYFA community and very much like the spirit in which this organization is run.

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