Reviews

“David Klein is that rare thing, an absolutely genuine artist.  A year ago he was preparing for a display of his work at the V&A following being short-listed for the inaugural Sculpture Prize, so I went down to his glorious, light-filled Sussex studio to see how he was getting on.  I felt I had entered some kind of powerhouse of energy and creativity.  Great carvings rose from scree-slopes of stone rubble, semi-formed, latent with energy.  Smaller ceramic figures spoke of the joy their maker felt in finding form from the swellings, pinches and protuberances of the human figure.  In my memory the pieces twist and bulge upwards as if born of plant and animal at once.

Dave's core belief is in form and form is the beating heart of sculpture.  His work is filled with life and bursting with energy.  He has anchored his understandings in the things that matter.  He joins the select company of young sculptors who will make a real difference.” 

— Martin Jennings FRBS (Sculptor)

“A friend of mine, referring to visits to museums, told me "You have to go in at a fast trot and wait for things to stop you".  Was he right?  I was stopped alright, by David Klein working on a piece at an Oxfordshire art show.  A key had turned and I was mesmerised.  A form of magic was in play  - a transformation.  Palaeolithic figurative art, melody, ceramic forms all inform his take on how to go about his work and provide keys to unlock the humanity in the subjects.  In a western world now obsessed with packaged experiences and constant personal contact it seems that people's connections are being steadily and ironically eroded.  To talk to strangers on a train is aberrant now.  David's work provides a chance to remember our commonality, our frailty, our beauty.

Over the years I've noticed the gradual developments in his pieces - the voluptuous/archaic, the equines, the classical; nods toward African and Indian sculpture, 20th Century artists like Brancusi, Modigliani, clay forms; experimenting with clay pastilles left on the final surface, inducing a sense of construction and resolution.  There are hints of textile, and an interplay of stippled and smooth surfaces, inviting one's touch - a technique he shares with African stone carving.

No good artist stands still.  For many, experimentation is the door to new and lively discoveries.   Klein's confidence in his own authoritative vocabulary means that he can translate his feelings into new modes of delivery, where corners are turned to great effect.  If it works, art moves us, effects a change.  An arrestation maybe or an impulse.  Curiosity is such a driving force and this is an artist who has bundles of it.”

— Jonathan Garrat FRSA (Potter)

“David Klein is the finest young sculptor working now in the UK. His work has that extra quality of perception only apparent in a true artist. I am a painter, but was immediately seized with delight when I first came across Klein’s work. I am lucky to have two of his pieces - which have depth beyond the first impression.

Klein has the ability to get into the soul of his subject, whatever it might be. There are so many superficial sculptors about that it is a joy to come across a real genius. This is a young man to watch and collect.”

— Josephine Trotter (Painter)