Goethe’s Girlfriend, 2015

Provenance: Hauser & Wirth, Zurich; acquired from the above by the current owner, 2015.

Dave McDermott’s practice combines painting, drawing, and textile techniques to create stylised compositions that draw on mythology, literature, and art history. His work is characterised by bold line, flat colour, and the incorporation of unconventional materials, often exploring themes of identity, desire, and symbolic representation.

In Goethe’s Girlfriend (2015), simplified, almost totemic figures are rendered through the use of yarn and gold, set against a dark, textured ground. The contrast between the tactile materiality of the surface and the graphic clarity of the forms creates a striking visual tension. Through this interplay of line, material, and reference, McDermott constructs a composition that is both playful and enigmatic, inviting multiple interpretations rooted in narrative and symbolism.