Article Text
A vivid collision of life and death earned artist Dave Curtis the Juror’s Choice Award at the opening of Falls Church Arts’ “Faces & Figures” exhibition on Saturday, April 19.
Juror Teresa Oaxaca selected Curtis’s “Tao Emoji” during a meet-the-artists reception at the gallery, located at 700-B West Broad St. The all-media exhibition, centered on faces and human figures, runs through June 1.
The 24-by-24-inch acrylic painting presents a dual face inspired by the Taoist concept of yin and yang. A bright, sunlike side radiates warmth and fire, while a cold blue, moonlike skull shares the same figure, with one eye staring outward. The imagery explores a cycle of life, death and rebirth.
Oaxaca described the work as a vibrant depiction of a cartoon moon or sun with a playful skull hidden within. She said its bold creativity and whimsical quality left her weighing whether the painting leaned too heavily into the macabre or achieved the right balance of light and darkness.
Curtis, a Washington, D.C., native who has lived in the Falls Church area for more than six decades, sometimes describes himself as a symbolic and surrealist painter. He has been painting since the 1980s and cites writer Franz Kafka and surrealist Salvador Dalí among his influences.
His work frequently draws on mythology, history, religion and literature. Recurring visual symbols include colors tied to emotions or movements, eyes representing awareness or knowledge, and teeth suggesting unthinking consumption.
Curtis earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art from Virginia Tech and has participated in solo and group exhibitions across the East Coast. He maintains a public studio at Jefferson Street Artists inside Art and Frame of Falls Church, where visitors can observe his creative process.
In recent years, he has also created work addressing climate change and global warming, imagining post-apocalyptic environments shaped by ecological collapse. Other paintings engage with politics and current events through surreal creatures, allegory, irony and dark humor.
“Faces & Figures” is open Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free, and the displayed artwork is available for purchase at the gallery or online.