Behind him the stage waits, before him one last breath. Head bowed, hands cupped protectively in front of his face, he lights a cigarette – a moment that belongs to him alone.
Cadmium yellow lies on the shoulders, chest and hands; quinacridone magenta and brilliant blue churn through the hair and shape the shadows of the muscles. Chains on the wrists, tattoos on the skin, the lettering IRAMA on the jeans – and over everything the paint runs down in long streaks. Behind, the night stays black and white: trusses, speakers, cones of spotlight and a crowd waiting in silhouette. The colour names come from the pigments with which David paints his originals.
L'Attimo Prima – The Moment Before. Everyone knows that second before the big step, when the heart beats loudly and the hands become completely still. Here it becomes an image of courage that begins quietly.
In portrait format, larger than life in the large sizes, the figure claims its place on the wall: beside a staircase, in a high hallway or above the record shelf, it holds the moment before everything begins.
