David Hinchen

My paintings celebrate the visually absorbing shapes, colors, textures and eccentric details of the urban landscape. For me, buildings are the significant carriers of cultural memory. Surviving the builders and residents, they are reminders of remoter lives and times. Over the years, a city takes on an almost geological aspect, with successive generations leaving behind a layering of architectural styles. The enduring physical makeup of a city directly influences its culture as well as its ability to survive as a place people care about.

My landscapes are always without people. The buildings are the complete statement. Within their lines and the mood they evoke, the people who built them and lived in them are revealed more clearly than if they had posed for a portrait. Here lies the emotional resonance which inspires me to paint old houses. There is a hard, beautiful dignity in weathering all those years - pure to themselves and uncompromising. Many people have observed that the buildings in my paintings seem strangely animated, as if they had personalities of their own. The windows, shutters and doors read almost like facial features, elements of individuality that make their presence felt. The scenes I paint are realistic in p...

Born in Schenectady, New York, I grew up in Manchester, Connecticut and attended East Catholic High School. From an early age, art was an integral part of my earliest influences and memories as I was surrounded by a diverse group of artists for classes and art openings at my parents' home. My mom (Gail Hinchen), is a mixed-media collage artist who operated her own gallery for over 30 years. Starting to draw in earnest as a child, I studied for many summers with painter and close family friend, Elden Rowland. A noted Abstract Expressionist, Roland was also adept at painting realistic portraits and seascapes. He studied with Robert Brackman and Jerry Farnsworth. Farnsworth was a student of Charles Hawthorne, the founder of the Cape Cod School of Art (1899). Roland and my grandmother, Helen von Borstel were artistic companions, painting and teaching together in Truro, Massachusetts and Sarasota, Florida for over 40 years (1950s-1980s). My grandmother was a prolific painter who specialized in impressionistic figures and botanical landscapes. She was a member of the Oak Room Artists and won numerous awards including Best in Show at the Cooperstown National. Rowland and von Borstel exhibited their work extensively in Albany, Provi...

My work has been featured in exhibitions at the Albany Institute of History and Art, New York State Museum, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Slater Memorial Museum, Salmagundi Club, Albany Center Gallery, Lichtenstein Center for Arts, New York State Capitol, Albany Symphony's Vanguard Show House and Historic Albany Foundation's Built Show 2001-2024. Since 2018, I’ve been the Built Exhibition Committee Chairperson. I'm a member of the storied Salmagundi Club of New York City (founded in 1871, past members include NC Wyeth, George Inness and Norman Rockwell), an associate member of Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts (included in the 113th Annual Juried Exhibition), a member of the Berkshire Art Association (included in the Visible Biennial Juried Show), represented in the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies Exhibition (Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and featured in numerous corporate / private art collections.