A native of Youngstown, Ohio, and a long-time resident of Mystic, Connecticut, David Madacsi came to art via an academic career in the disciplineof physics. His professional career as a physicist was focused on light and included the study of materials and processes for the photo-electrochemical conversion and storage of solar energy.
Intersecting with the arts throughout his academic career, David co-founded the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery of Art at the University of Connecticut’s Avery Point Campus in 1991, together with friend and collaborator Julia Pavone; he continues to serve as its Founding Board Chairman and Associate Curator. Additionally, he was the Producer/Artistic Director of the Jazz…by the Sea jazz festival from 1995-2000, and served as Director of Arts and Cultural Programs at the campus until taking early retirement from the University in 2003. While he retains his academic standing as Professor of Physics Emeritus, David now pursues art—and related writing—full-time, drawing on his insight into the workings of the physical world to inform his creative work.
David’s long-term interaction with other visual artists has led to an ongoing interest in the subject of “the interconnectedness of light, art, and place.” He has done extensive photographic work, written, exhibited and lectured internationally on the subject, which he hopes will form the basis of a forthcoming book.
David works in several media including photography and sculptural assemblage with found objects, as well as occasional hybrids of the two. His environmental art often centers on the behavior of natural light as influenced by what he describes as “visual terroir.” The phenomenon of natural lensing and image formation—essential to the evolution of vision in all creatures—has been the starting point for several of his site-specific installations which utilize “image-gathering” water lenses and environmental found objects.
