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| So ähnlich
wie ein geschriebener Satz, das eine Begebenheit deutet,
so lässt auch ein Bild das Geschehene vom Betrachter
abrücken. Doch im Gegensatz dazu vermag ein einziges
Bild einen Zustand zu beschreiben, wofür sich oftmals
keine passenden Worte finden lassen. Und wenn doch,
klingt es häufig nur banal oder uninteressant. Wer sich
die hier ausgestellten Werke von Dave Nestler
mit der sorgfältigen Aufmerksamkeit betrachtet, wird
sich dieser Erkenntnis nicht verweigern können. Wie lässt
sich präziser formulieren, was er darstellt. So ermalt
sich eine Frau selbst. Dafür gibt es keinen Begriff und
keine Formulierung, die gleichzeitig über die nötige
Ironie des Bildes verfügt. Und wieder einmal erfüllt
sich die Erkenntnis mit Leben. „Ein Bild sagt mehr als
tausend Worte!“ |
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In the
world of Pinup art, it is rare that an artist is able to
push the edge to create something so unique that it is
without comparison and ripe for imitation. Most pin-up
artists fall into one of the two underlying schools or
styles: Either hardcore, in your face images most
notably exemplified through the latest works of Sorayama,
or the traditional lightly teasing, cheesecake style
most commonly seen in Alberto Vargas and Olivia’s
works.
Dave Nestler has tread the
waters between the two shores, creating his notorious
Glamourotica series: “Blonde & Gagged”, a
combination of Glamour, Pin-up, and Erotic art.
It was actually necessity and
timing that sent Nestler in the direction of Pin-up art.
Born on the east coast, Dave showed signs at an early
age that there was promise and destination to be
developed from the outcome of hours spent drawing and
doodling in class. With no real direction in sight...
pleasing friends, family, and agitating faculty members
seemed to give Dave his greatest pleasure as an artist.
After high school, Dave enrolled in the Fine Arts and
General Studies program at the University of Pittsburgh.
With no real challenges at hand, Dave quit after 3 years
and enrolled at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in the
Visual Communications and Commercial Arts program. This
was the environment where skills could be developed,
mediums introduced, and styles envisioned. Halfway
through the program, Dave realized where his talents
were best developed. He had an insatiable appetite for
painting people, and an even more uncanny ability for
capturing their likeness’...especially beautiful women.
Add to this a photo-realistic, color rich Illustrative
style, and the choice was clear. There was only one
place to be...Hollywood, and all the entertainment
industry had to offer. After graduation, Dave moved to
Los Angeles and began a career in the character building,
rejection heavy arena known mostly to... “The Starving
Artist”.
But after a few short months, work came more frequently.
Soon Dave was working all around the entertainment
community. Film, TV, Radio, Ad Agencies, Design Studios.
Dave’s ability to capture the likeness’ of
recognizable people kept him very busy through the
mid-80’s. With his goals within reach, a shift in the
industry occurred, and photography began to replace
traditional illustration. All of a sudden, the movie
posters and album covers he had envisioned himself
creating were now nonexistent. At that point, Dave moved
back to his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and
began working in the Advertising community. Moving
quickly through the local and regional ranks of
free-lance illustrators, Dave soon found himself working
on national accounts. With the end of the decade
approaching, his work appeared on regional covers for TV
Guide and other national publications alongside some of
his biggest art school inspirations such as artists
Richard Amsel and Drew Struzan. With national
recognition on the horizon, the inevitable occurred.
Computers and computer graphics were introduced to the
industry. Within a two year period, the need for
high-priced illustrators was reduced to a fraction of
what it once was in the eighties. Not content to give up
on his dreams, and having no desire to participate in
the world of computer graphics and design, Nestler
searched for a market that supported what he did best:
painting people...especially WOMEN. Enter the
Glamourcon. On the recommendation from a
photographer friend, Nestler attended his first
Glamourcon in the fall of 1995.
Not being a stranger to classic
pin-up art, Dave entered the show expecting to see the
work of Gil Elvgren, Joyce Ballantine and other artists
of the past. What he saw was a collection of
contemporary pin-up artists such as Olivia, Jim Silke,
Dave Stevens, Robert Blue and others who had resurrected
an art form that had laid dormant for years. For Dave
Nestler, this was his pot of gold at the end of the
rainbow, a market solely dedicated to the artistic
expression of the female form. A decades worth of
working in the dog eat dog world of advertising taught
Dave one thing. To get recognized you have to set
yourself apart from the herd. The “Blonde and Gagged”
series was born of this approach. Instant recognition
and market wide acclaim came quickly. Not since
Sorayama’s Sexy Robot Women has a continuing series of
paintings made such an impact on an international scale.
The amount of imitators and replications of the Blonde
and Gagged style is a testament to that. The natural
progression in an artists career would tell them to find
what it is that they do best and continue in that
direction. For Dave Nestler, that direction has yet to
be discovered. And it’s that challenge that fuels
Dave’s creative exploration into the world of pinup
art. >From Glam our to Erotica, from Fetish to
Fantasy. Most artists will tell that your only as good
as your next painting. For some, not knowing what’s
next can be
intimidating and creatively exhausting. For Dave
Nestler...it’s a bonus.
www.davenestler.com
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