David Alexander Barnett

Painter - Artist

David Barnett (b. 1988, Atlanta) is a painter whose work explores intuitive expression through unplanned compositions that evolve over time. Working on large surfaces with oil paint, he starts with broad movement and gesture, then making slow decisions, allowing for ethereal, trickster forms to emerge.  Trained in figurative, representational painting, Barnett is now focused on developing intuition, letting go of planning and “knowing,” and simply surrendering to the process.  Each work feels like a playful exploration into the unknown. The paintings help develop a relationship with some unseen force that is bigger and outside of the visible world.  The main concepts in the work are time, surrender, humor and emergence.

After studying history at Reed College and University of Tennessee, Barnett began work with a mural company in Brooklyn, painting large-scale advertisements and murals, including a twenty-story portrait of the Pope near Madison Square Garden. In 2016, he moved to Upstate New York, where his interests in nature, consciousness and spirituality blossomed. In 2018, after unexpectedly waking up in a hospital and accusing the nurses of being aliens intent on stealing his organs, Barnett’s attention radically shifted to questions of consciousness and whether we are alone in the universe. Barnett has exhibited his work throughout the US and is in private collections around the world.

EDUCATION

University of Tennessee at Knoxville                                                                                               2010 – 2011

B.A. in History

Reed College, Portland, Oregon                                                                                               2007 – 2009

Exhibitions

Imagine the Subject, Resurrection Studios, Asheville NC March 2026

We Are Not Alone, Chester’s Art Studio, Barryville NY May 2025

A duo show

Art in the Parlor, Narrowsburg, NY February 2025

The White Show, Chester’s Art Studio, Barryville NY December 2024

A group show

Cincinnati Art Club’s ViewPoint 54 Exhibition, Eisele Gallery Sept 9 - Oct 1 2022

National Juried Group Show

Rising and Falling All Day Long, Harley, Woodloch Lodge March 2022

A duo show, exploring new directions

Continuity and Change, Hawley, Woodloch Lodge August 2020

A duo show, featuring my new works of animals and flowers

Home, Narrowsburg, DVAA Gallery                                                                                         October 2018

A solo show featuring portraits, landscapes, and interior and garden scenes

Moments, Callicoon, River Family Wellness Center                                                               May 2018

A duo show with local artist Thomas Bosket

Continue, Callicoon, Café Adella Dori                                                                                    May 2016-2019

Every couple months, I hang new painting in my sister’s cafe 

Group Show, Callicoon, Eva Gallery                                                                                       June 2016

A group show with local artists from the Upper Delaware Region

Atmospheric, Lower East Side, Con Artist Collective                                                            October 2015

A group show with members of the collective

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Freelance Muralist 2015-Present

Working with private and corporate clients to design unique outdoor and indoor murals

Scenic Art Studios, Newburgh, New York                                                                  February 2018 – May 2018

Scenic Painting Studio – Scenic Painter                                                       

Cobalt Studios, White Lake, New York                                                                       August 2016 – November 2016

Scenic Painting Studio - Freelance painter

Art-FX Murals, New York City & Los Angeles                                                             March 2015 – March 2016

Hand Painted Advertising – Painter

Milestone Outdoor, New York City                                                                  February 2015 – January 2017

Hand Painted Advertising  - Lead Painter

Colossal Media, New York City                                                                                     2012 – February 2015

Hand Painted Advertising Company -  Painter

PUBLICATIONS

Cover Feature, The Saint Ann’s Review, Journal of Contemporary Arts and Letters, New York         Fall 2015