David Remfry's Artisitic Rhythm
The Artist's 'Dancers' Series Premieres At The Boca Raton Museum Of Art

ABOVE: Arfist David Remfry re-creates a nightclub ambiance in his studio, setting the stage for his "dancers." BELOW: Longtime friends of Remfry's, Stanley and Phyllis Bard "danced" for him over the course of two years, resulting in numerous paintings of the couple.

hile other children were playing in the park, David Remfry was sketching. When others asked for toy trucks and baseball bats for their birthdays, Remfry wanted drawing books and colored pencils. "That was the thing I wanted to do all the time ... draw," he says.

Even as a young adult, when others were struggling to find their mission, Remfry already knew. "I never really started a career in art in the traditional sense, because even as a child of 6 or 7 years old, I knew I was going to be an artist," he says. "I know people have a difficult time believing that. Most grapple with what they're going to do with their life and career, but I never had to think about it. I always knew."

Such a stream of consciousness has guided Remfy throughout his life. Driven by instinct rather than thought, he has enjoyed an artistic career for more than 30 years. Known for his life-size watercolors, Remfry captures figures in motion at nightclubs, parties and other soirees. Whether swaying to the music, moving in tandem or holding close — his subjects dance across the canvas with a lightness of step that is at once subtle yet striking. With delicate strokes of color, he paints a mood, captures a moment, encapsulates an evening, or tells the story of a person's life.

More a voyeur than a participant, Remfry loves to watch people move. "I'm tom between watching dancers and being the dancer," he says. "People in movement are very interesting to me. Ancient Greek sculptures and Pompeiian oil paintings show subjects that are clearly dancing. It's one of the first things babies do when they hear music. It's such an integral part of us. And it's also a wonderful metaphor for life, 'the dance of life.'"

Over the years, Remfry set aside many of his paintings of people dancing — simply for the love of the subject matter. Little did he know he was building a collection that would become a touring exhibition.

The Boca Raton Museum of Art in Boca Raton, Fla., is the first stop on the international tour of the show, titled "David Remfry: Dancers." The exhibit, which runs until Jan. 12, 2003, will include more than 80 paintings and drawings from the series, many of which have never been seen before.

ABOVE: This untitled watercolor on paper of couples dancing measures nearly 10 feet wide. The woman in the red dress is a choreographer in New York.

"The idea for the exhibition and book originated in David's studio in the Hotel Chelsea in New York in 1999. David showed me a group of pictures he referred to as the 'Dancers,' which he had begun to paint in 1985 but had never exhibited before," says George Bolge, the museum's executive director and curator of the exhibit. "By 1999, they numbered over 70 pictures. As he brought out painting after painting, I began to envision an exhibition devoted solely to the 'Dancers.' I feel privileged that David has chosen the Boca Raton Museum of Art for the premiere exhibition of this important body of work."

Many of Remfry's subjects are close friends and acquaintances who came to his studio repeatedly to dance for him, such as Stanley and Phyllis Bard. When Remfry and his wife, Caroline Hansberry, came to the states from London in 1995, they settled in at the Hotel Chelsea, which Stanley owns.

"When we moved here, it was tough at first. You have to start over, you know," Remfry recalls. "It was tough financially, but Stanley was wonderful. At one point, I owed him nine months of rent, and was embarrassed to go by his desk in case he was there. I would always pass him and say, 'I'm sorry, but I've got a big exhibition coming up soon.' And he'd always reply with, 'David, I never worry about you.'"

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