Clayman, David

Clayman, David
Abstract Wood Constructions

Born in 1926 in New York City, David Clayman's earliest "artistic memories" are those of painting with classmates, constantly sketching and learning woodworking techniques. At sixteen, he left school and began working in the garment industry and was recognized as a mechanical prodigy because of his natural ability to design equipment and work aids to increase production.
During World War II, at age eighteen, David was drafted. Captured in Germany, he was held as a Prisoner of War for 5 1/2 months and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantryman’s Badge for his service.
After "coming home" he pursued his education in the arts. David studied sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum with William King. He attended Brooklyn College as an English major, under the GI Bill, and was Editor of the literary magazine Nocturne. Concurrent with attending Brooklyn College he studied playwriting at the Columbia School of Dramatic Arts, and method acting under actor-director Mark Gordon.
Drawn to the works of experimental writers Gertrude Stein and James Joyce, Parisian exiles, David moved to Paris in 1955, where he found that the center of the art world revolved around the impressionist movement. He began his study of painting with impressionist Romanian artist Paul Huboy, and has continued to pursue "his art" ever since.
When he returned to the US, he met abstract expressionist artist Ferdinand LoPinto, a personal friend and contemporary of Jackson Pollack.
Ferdie‘s friendship, criticism and influence on David’s intellectual growth was considerable. David left the impressionists behind, accepted the challenge of abstract expressionism, and found the freedom to search for his "own voice".
After years of abstract painting, dabbling in portraiture, and experimenting with abstract constructions, David found that wood was the medium that best combined his aesthetic visions and his innate mechanical abilities. He has been working in this medium for four decades. His early constructions were both representational and abstract. Today his work is almost exclusively abstract.
Throughout his career David's unique work has been commissioned, exhibited and sold in numerous galleries.
After retiring from operating his own art gallery in Brooklyn NY, from 1971 through 1992, David moved to Kennesaw GA in 1992, where he continues to work every day to develop his craft and passionately pursue the limits of his creativity.