David Salle

American, 1952

David Salle is a contemporary American painter, printmaker, and photographer. A prominent Neo-Expressionist artist, his collage-like paintings feature overlapping imagery from a variety of sources, such as magazines, interior décor, and art history. His colorful compositions are rendered in a straightforward, uncomplicated style, layering different figures and patterns. “Ever since I started painting,” the artist has explained, “I have tried to get the fluidity and surprise of image connection, the simultaneity of film montage, into painting.” Born in 1952 in Norman, OK, he went on to earn both his BFA and MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. While there, he studied under the famed Conceptual artist John Baldessari, who would be a lasting influence in Salle’s work. In addition to his studio practice, Salle has also frequently contributed writing to publications such as Artforum, The Paris Review, and Art News, among others. His paintings can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Tate Gallery in London, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., among others. Salle lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Courtesy artnet