Arts Center Choice Award: David Froetschel

Arts Center Choice Award

A Lot More Than It Seems: David Froetschel

 August 7 through October 15, 2021

Gallery Talk October 14, 6pm FACEBOOK EVENT

PLEASE NOTE: This program is virtual only. 

Each year during the annual anchor show, the Juried Exhibition, the Lyndon House Curator selects one up and coming emerging artist, the Arts Center Choice Award Recipient, for a solo exhibition.  New this year, this exhibition featuring David Froetschel, will be installed in the newly renovated North Gallery. This exhibition will go on view August 7 through October 15, 2021.

A Lot More Than It Seems is a fitting title for the collection of David Froetschel’s artworks presented in the Lyndon House Arts Center’s North Gallery. With structures found at thrift stores and imagery taken from fiction, David balances between order and chaos, dreams and reality, imagining what could be and depicting “a lot more than it seems.” 

The largest painting in the exhibition is of Elric, a fictional character and “the protagonist of a series of sword and sorcery stories taking place on an alternative Earth” (Wikipedia). David’s interest in the character Elric, and his motivation for creating the portrait, reflects the artist’s recurring fascination with other worlds and the “cosmic balance.” According to David, Elric lives in a universe where order and chaos battle each other. 

David Froetschel 2021 LHAC Choice Award Winner

David also draws scenes from his dreams in his ongoing “Dream Series.” He adds a touch of humor with “Night Mare,” which depicts a comically terrifying horse roaring over the artist while he sleeps. 

David won the 2021 Arts Center Choice Award in recognition of the consistently curious artworks he has entered to the Juried Exhibitions over the past few years. Titles, such as “Tear in the Fabric,” “Liminal Window,” and “Venus of Willendorf of Minecraft,” demonstrate David’s long-running interest in fantasy and other worlds. 

David graduated Cum Laude from the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art with a BFA in 2013. He has held several jobs since graduating, and currently works for the Department of Transportation, heroically keeping our highways safe and clean.

David Froetschel Interstice

David Froetschel’s Artist Statement:

I work on multiple facets of media for my work. Each one of my artworks is unique because my talents lie in a diverse set of skills. My subject matter leans toward the surreal and fantastic, but is somewhat grounded by realistic proportions. Even some of my more representational works end up having a quality beyond realism.

I have a certain neurodivergence that has given me a fresh perspective on life and the nature of reality. I would refer to it as a disorder, if not for the fact that I don’t feel all that disordered. Oftentimes, I feel the rest of the world is disordered. After all, some proclaim the natural state of the universe to be chaos.

There are a lot of events that are out of anyone’s control, and being at peace with that fact is the better option. I was born with this neurodivergence, this nonconformity. I have long since made peace with it.