Working at a scale that invites close attention rather than architectural spectacle, David Thorpe has spent the past two decades constructing imaginary landscapes from cut paper, veneer, dried flowers, bark, leather, glass, pebbles and slate. The resulting collages are painstaking and intimate: mountain peaks, towering pines, and vast skies inhabited by futuristic bunkers and watchtowers, scenes that suggest solitude, self-sufficiency, and an uneasy relationship with civilisation's promises.
Key facts
- Born
- 1972, British[1]
- Movement
- [1]
- Works held in
- 1 museum
- Wikipedia
- View article
Biography
Born in London in 1972[1], Thorpe took his BA at Humberside University and his MA at Goldsmiths in 1998, where the conceptual pressures of the YBA moment were at their height. He moved in the opposite direction, toward handcraft and silence. His sources include Victorian paper-cutting, Japanese woodblock prints, and the utopian social architecture of the twentieth century, but none of these references floats to the surface unmediated.
The collages depict a fictional wilderness loosely drawn from representations of the American West. The architectural insertions, bunkers and lookouts recalling survivalist compounds or unbuilt modernist proposals, are never comfortable presences. His 2004 publication A Rendezvous with My Friends of Liberty gives some sense of the ideological charge his work carries.
Thorpe has exhibited at the ICA London, Tate Britain, Camden Art Centre, and the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt.
Timeline
- 1972Born in London.
- 1998Completed his MA at Goldsmiths, London.
- 2004Published 'A Rendezvous with My Friends of Liberty'.
- 2004Exhibited at the ICA London.
- 2004Exhibited at Tate Britain, London.
- 2004Exhibited at Camden Art Centre, London.
- 2004Exhibited at the Schirn Kunsthalle in Frankfurt.
Notable Works
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Related Artists
Frequently Asked Questions
What is David Thorpe known for?
David Thorpe is known for constructing imaginary landscapes from cut paper, veneer, dried flowers, bark, leather, glass, pebbles and slate. His collages depict a fictional wilderness loosely drawn from representations of the American West, often including architectural insertions such as bunkers and lookouts.Who was David Thorpe?
David Thorpe is a London-born artist who creates imaginary landscapes from materials such as cut paper, veneer, dried flowers, and glass. Born in 1972[1], he received his MA from Goldsmiths in 1998 and creates collages that suggest solitude and an uneasy relationship with civilisation.What was David Thorpe's art style?
David Thorpe's art style involves constructing imaginary landscapes from materials like cut paper and dried flowers. His collages are inspired by Victorian paper-cutting, Japanese woodblock prints, and utopian social architecture.When was David Thorpe born?
David Thorpe was born in 1972[1].
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for David Thorpe.
- [1] wikipedia Wikipedia: David Thorpe Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
- [2] book Milam, Jennifer Dawn, Historical Dictionary of Rococo Art Used for: biography.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-06-10. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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