About the Artist

Taking Care of the Imagination

David Klassen’s drawings and paintings invite us to see the understated and hidden aspects of life's experiences. His imagery is highly detailed in illustrative quality and juxtaposes recognizable objects into readjusted and fantastical picture planes. David invites us to see the minutiae and the details we often overlook. 

David received his Studio Fine Arts degree from the University of Waterloo and his Architectural Design degree from the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Manitoba.

If there is one thing I have learned in life, David says, it is that lines are not what we stay within, but what we draw to make manifest our reality, truth, what exists, what could exist, and what we learn to see. I’m so glad there is no road map to life. Make it an interesting story, I tell my children. Invite everyone to come along on your journey and show us wonderful possibilities of what our life can be.

We all can be aware to the rhythms by which we live and to each and every stroke we take. This awareness is non-exclusive. So, whether I’ve been taking commissions or showing in galleries, or producing murals in the City of Surrey, or whether I’ve been a product designer in Bangladesh, or forming an artisan company called Maya Magination Works Inc., or teaching visual art to students, or being a stay-at-home father, or working a regular job and fighting for workers’ rights, I know the task: To marvel at the profound mystery of ourselves and our place in this universe.

The mystery is not one of confusion, but one that intriguingly invites us into an expansive relationship with something we do not yet fully know. I’m interested to see the unseen and I’m convinced the clues to that vision are right in front of our eyes. We are invited by this mystery to piece it together by juxtaposing our realities, our experiences, our memories, our relationships, our feelings, our places, our dreams, and our moments of suffering and joy, to complete a picture that is clear, immensely colourful, filled with limitless knowledge of dark and light, and to do so with compassionate sensibilities that encompass us, layer upon layer, into one lovingly timeless picture frame.

Since 1990, I've been taking care of my imagination on the beautiful West Coast of British Columbia, Canada. I now work from my home studio in South Surrey near the oceanside community of White Rock. I invite you to come here and explore.

A Life of Visual Art 

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts 1985; University of Waterloo

Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Architectural Design) 1981;

University of Manitoba, Faculty of Architecture

Gallery Representation

White Rock Museum & Archives Gift Shop -- 2020 - 2024

The Coastal Incident – Yaletown, Vancouver 1996

Solo Exhibitions

Ocean Park Library South Surrey: Special Places in South Surrey, White Rock, and Not So Far Beyond December 2022; The Waterfront Artist Program of White Rock 1996; Burnaby Deer Lake Gallery 1996; University of Waterloo 1985

Group Exhibitions

* Lipont Gallery at Lipont Place, Richmond BC, "Order and Chaos" Abstract Art Group Exhibition presented by FEIART Group and the New Art Foundation of Vancouver (NAFVan) May 30-June 30, 2023.

* True Colour Art Gallery, North Vancouver, "Order and Chaos" Abstract Art Group Exhibition presented by FEIART Group and the New Art Foundation of Vancouver (NAFVan) April 26-May 09, 2023.

* South Rock Art Tour/Peninsula Art Tour 2017-2024.

* Community Arts Council of White Rock 1998; Jenkins Showler Gallery 1997; Vancouver East Cultural Centre 1997; Surrey Art Gallery Arts ’97 & ‘96; Arnold Mikelson Mind & Matter Gallery 1995; New Westminster Gallery 1994 & 93; The Fraser Valley Arts & Peace Festival 1994, ‘93, ‘92; Burnaby Art Gallery 1993; The Seymour Art Gallery 1992; Images & Objects X Vernon, BC. 1992; University of Waterloo Fine Art Dept. 1991; The Lookout Gallery, Regent College UBC 1991

Public Art Installations

Fleetwood Community Centre: Community Mural Project 1998; Surrey Art Gallery Installation: “Envisioning Our Cultural Future” 1998; Surrey Place Mall Installation: “Symphonic Spawn” 1997

Service to the Art Community 

Public Art Advisory Committee City of Surrey (Mayor Appointed) 1998 – 2000

President Surrey Art Gallery Association (SAGA) 1998 – 2000

Steering Committee; City of Surrey’s Cultural Strategic Plan 1998 – 99

Arts Council Representative for SAGA 1996 – 98

Planning Committee; Surrey Arts Council 1996

Curator; Fraser Valley Arts & Peace Festival 1993 – 94

Visual Art Jobs 

Artist Consultant: Spirit of Youth Mural Projects: 1999 (creation of 16 public murals in Surrey)

Art Instructor: Surrey Continuing Education – Challenges Program/Art Starts in Schools Program 1994 – 2000;

Product Designer and Development Supervisor – MCC International Development Program in Bangladesh 1985 – 88

Companies Formed

Maya Magination Works Inc. 1991 – ’94: (Director of an Arts & Crafts Marketing Cooperative)

David and The Magic of Maya

(photo credit: New Art Foundation of Vancouver)