Thrives on Light

The Western Gaze of David Mason

David Mason Solo Exhibition

The Whitelock Art Center is proud to present Thrives on Light: The Western Gaze of David Mason, a solo exhibition available exclusively online. Open to a global audience from May 24 to June 24, 2025, this digital showcase offers an immersive exploration of the American West through the radiant, layered vision of contemporary artist David Mason.

In this exhibition, the West is reimagined—not as a mythic frontier, but as a poetic landscape imbued with solitude, strength, and quiet beauty. Mason’s mixed media works, composed with colored pencil, ink, acrylic, graphite, and metallic leaf, reveal a rich surface texture and a deep sensitivity to light. Each piece reflects his distinct artistic language—one that is gentle, luminous, and spiritually resonant.

Featured works such as Buckaroo, Denim, Just Looking, Dance Like A Butterfly, Folk Art, and Cheers depict cowboys, animals, clothing, celebrations, and symbolic figures. Rather than nostalgic reenactments, these images serve as acts of reconstruction, presenting the West as a space where tradition and introspection coexist.

The exhibition’s title, Thrives on Light, speaks to more than just visual aesthetics—it captures Mason’s unique treatment of light as a narrative and emotional force. Through subtle gradations, reflective surfaces, and contrasting tonal fields, his works seem lit from within, inviting viewers to pause, look deeper, and engage with the quiet stories unfolding in each composition.

As an online exhibition, Thrives on Light removes geographical boundaries, enabling art lovers everywhere to experience the intricacy and intimacy of Mason’s work. Visitors can explore high-resolution images of each piece, accompanied by thoughtful curatorial texts, gaining insight into the themes of culture, memory, and identity that run throughout.

The exhibition is now live and will remain accessible through June 24, 2025. Visit the Whitelock Art Center’s official website or affiliated platforms to enter the virtual gallery and rediscover the spirit of the West—reborn in light.

David Mason

David Mason is a California-based contemporary artist whose work blends technical finesse with a deep spiritual connection to the landscapes, symbols, and stories of the American West. With a career spanning over four decades, Mason has developed a distinctive voice in mixed media—merging colored pencil, acrylic, ink, metallic leaf, and graphite into luminous compositions that feel both grounded and dreamlike.

Raised in the coastal art town of Carmel, California, Mason was immersed in a creative environment from an early age. Both of his parents were artists, and he began exploring photography and drawing as a child. This early foundation evolved into formal studies in Applied Art and Design at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where he majored in Photography. A pivotal moment in his artistic journey came in 1981, when he participated in a summer mentorship with the legendary Ansel Adams—an experience that left a lasting impression on his approach to light, composition, and artistic purpose.

Mason’s visual language is marked by stillness, clarity, and an almost meditative use of detail. His subjects—cowboys, animals, attire, gestures—are drawn from the vernacular of the American West but elevated into symbols of dignity, resilience, and quiet grace. What sets his work apart is not just his ability to render form, but his use of light as a narrative force. In Mason’s paintings, light emanates from within the figures and objects themselves, guiding the viewer into a space that feels sacred and deeply personal.

Over the years, Mason has exhibited widely in both solo and group shows across the United States, including venues in California, Nevada, New York, and Texas. His work has been recognized with numerous awards and featured in publications such as Artistonish, Observica, Art & Color 365, Artsy Shark, and more. In 2025, he was invited to serve on the Academic Committee of the Whitelock Art Center, further affirming his role as a respected voice in the contemporary art community.

Beyond the accolades, what resonates most in David Mason’s art is sincerity. There is no posturing, no spectacle—only a genuine search for meaning through light, form, and cultural memory. In a world increasingly overwhelmed by speed and noise, his work offers something rare: stillness that speaks.

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