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David Mankin – Odysseys

26 September – 24 October 2026

Kynance’s wondrous caves, roofed rich with glory

David Mankin
Kynance’s wondrous caves, roofed rich with glory

acrylic and mixed media with collaged flotsam on canvas
155 x 200cm ` £12,750

Loe Bar

David Mankin
Loe Bar

acrylic and mixed media with collaged flotsam on canvas
122 x 152cm ` £8750

Where sharp spray tingles and wet cliffs shine

David Mankin
Where sharp spray tingles and wet cliffs shine

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
90 x 90cm £5200

Odyssey 2016-2026

David Mankin
Odyssey 2016-2026

acrylic & mixed media on board
120 x 100cm £6250

By the deep sea, and music in its roar

David Mankin
By the deep sea, and music in its roar

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
122 x 122cm £6850

Your statue throws it shadow beyond the furthest wave

David Mankin
Your statue throws it shadow beyond the furthest wave

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
102 x 102cm £5500

The mighty wind rises roaring seawards

David Mankin
The mighty wind rises roaring seawards

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
90 x 90cm £5200

Pull of the tide

David Mankin
Pull of the tide

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
122 x 122cm £6850

The quietest places

David Mankin
The quietest places

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
80 x 80cm £4359

The meadows where it glides, the sun, the breeze

David Mankin
The meadows where it glides, the sun, the breeze

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
102 x 102cm £5500

The tilted, orange half moon flares on headlands dark

David Mankin
The tilted, orange half moon flares on headlands dark

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
102 x 102cm £5500

Steep gulfs and foaming crests

David Mankin
Steep gulfs and foaming crests

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
122 x 70cm £5650

Blossoms in the silence of the night

David Mankin
Blossoms in the silence of the night

acrylic and mixed media on canvas
60 x 60cm £3575

The Todden, Cadgwith

David Mankin
The Todden, Cadgwith

acrylic & mixed media on wood
60 x 80cm £4250

The Crowns, Botallack

David Mankin
The Crowns, Botallack

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Towards Portheras Cove

David Mankin
Towards Portheras Cove

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Wash of the tremulous tide

David Mankin
Wash of the tremulous tide

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

After storm-lit evening

David Mankin
After storm-lit evening

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

The sea swung by

David Mankin
The sea swung by

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

The landscape winking through the heat

David Mankin
The landscape winking through the heat

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

In seashell whispers

David Mankin
In seashell whispers

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

The blaring white of the lighthouse (Pendeen)

David Mankin
The blaring white of the lighthouse (Pendeen)

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

The cliff ringed shore

David Mankin
The cliff ringed shore

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Upon the cliffs warm slope

David Mankin
Upon the cliffs warm slope

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Here where I linger

David Mankin
Here where I linger

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Where deep cliffs loom

David Mankin
Where deep cliffs loom

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

On the mirroring sands

David Mankin
On the mirroring sands

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Summer’s flashing sheen

David Mankin
Summer’s flashing sheen

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

The wind had warmed the wintry blue

David Mankin
The wind had warmed the wintry blue

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Besides the idle summer sea

David Mankin
Besides the idle summer sea

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Breakers thundering to the shore

David Mankin
Breakers thundering to the shore

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

As thunder-drops fall onto a sleeping sea

David Mankin
As thunder-drops fall onto a sleeping sea

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
20 x 20cm £895

Interval of Sound

David Mankin
Interval of Sound

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
40 x 30cm £2275

As we approach the ocean roar

David Mankin
As we approach the ocean roar

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
25 x 25cn £1275

Tumbling into the moon

David Mankin
Tumbling into the moon

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
40 x 40cm £2695

The swallows glance and wheeled along the carne

David Mankin
The swallows glance and wheeled along the carne

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
40 x 40cm £2695

Porth Nanven

David Mankin
Porth Nanven

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
40 x 40cm £2695

The freshness of the early world

David Mankin
The freshness of the early world

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
40 x 40cm £2695

Rising softly, from the fields of sleep

David Mankin
Rising softly, from the fields of sleep

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
50 x 40cm £3275

The ever-summered solitudes

David Mankin
The ever-summered solitudes

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
40 x 40cm £2695

High waving heather on hills of sand

David Mankin
High waving heather on hills of sand

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
50 x 40cm £3275

Hinterland 4

David Mankin
Hinterland 4

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
30 x 20cm £1495

The day’s last chase

David Mankin
The day’s last chase

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
36 x 28cm £2200

When the tide rushes from the rumbling caves

David Mankin
When the tide rushes from the rumbling caves

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
30 x 30cm £1795

Curving flight across the black-girt bay

David Mankin
Curving flight across the black-girt bay

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
30 x 30cm £1795

Pendour Cove

David Mankin
Pendour Cove

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
30 x 30cm £1795

In golden rain of daffodils

David Mankin
In golden rain of daffodils

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
25 x 25cm £1275

A land of echoes

David Mankin
A land of echoes

acrylic & mixed media on wood panel
25 x 25cm £1275

The wave ends, but sea remains

David Mankin
The wave ends, but sea remains

acrylic & mixed media on canvas
30 x 30cm £1795

The great winds shorewards blow (study)

David Mankin
The great winds shorewards blow (study)

acrylic & mixed media on paper
24 x 25cm £1275

Song of the sea cave (study)

David Mankin
Song of the sea cave (study)

acrylic & mixed media on paper
27 x 24cm £1275

On a winter sea

David Mankin
On a winter sea

acrylic & mixed media on paper
24 x 25cm £1275

Whirling shags around the mizzen peaks

David Mankin
Whirling shags around the mizzen peaks

Whirling shags around the mizzen peaks
24 x 25cm £1275

On the frontier cliffs (study)

David Mankin
On the frontier cliffs (study)

acrylic & mxed media on paper
24 x 25cm £1275

Wail of the wild gale

David Mankin
Wail of the wild gale

acrylic & mixed media on paper
25 x 25cm £1275

Spring at Bedruthan

David Mankin
Spring at Bedruthan

crayon, pen and pastel and on paper
21 x 30cm £1200

Shadowed coves on a sunny shore

David Mankin
Shadowed coves on a sunny shore

Collage, acrylic and mixed media on paper
14 x 33cm £1495

 

 

DAVID MANKIN – ODYSSEYS 26 SEPTEMBER – 24 OCTOBER 2026

“For me nature is not landscape, but the dynamism of visual forces – an event rather than an appearance.” Bridget Riley

David Mankin’s paintings are born from a sustained engagement with the landscape, but they are never obvious descriptions of place. His canvases conjure sensation and fleeting human experiences, crystallising the physical world into something more elusive: a language of colour, abstract forms, gesture, rhythm and emotion. Odysseys is both a celebration of this and a reflection on the remarkable journey that has brought Mankin to be internationally collected and renowned as a contemporary abstract expressionist painter.

The title Odysseys alludes to adventurous journeys of exploration, discovery, encounters and moments of revelation. Mankin has developed a distinctive language of painting built through layers of mark-making, expressive brushwork and a unique handling of colour and composition.

Cornwall remains his source, this wild ancient land on the edge of Atlantic ocean sculpted by the elements. The paintings in this body of work are records of an ongoing search, a dedicated passion to discover what landscape can become when it is filtered through memory, emotion and the imagination.

His process begins with looking and observing; walking, photographing, sketching and gathering fragments of sensory information from the landscape. It is through sifting, editing, cropping, and the act of painting back in his studio that these observations are transformed. What permeates his canvases is not a particular viewpoint, but a distillation of the spirit of place. The viewer is invited to confront somewhere or something recognisable yet undefined, where colour evokes an atmosphere, a mark can recall a fleeting moment and a composition can trigger a long forgotten memory.

This exhibition is Mankin’s 6th solo exhibition at Cornwall Contemporary and his 10th solo exhibition in twelve years, a significant milestone in a career that has developed with extraordinary momentum. Alongside the paintings, Odysseys also marks the publication of his second monograph, David Mankin Language of Paint, following David Mankin Remembering in Paint, published in 2021. Together, these books provide a deep insight into an artist whose emergent art practice is rooted in the process of change, risk and transition.

With a growing community of more than 150,000 followers and collectors across the world, Mankin’s voyages in paint have become an ongoing artistic odyssey, driven by curiosity, restlessness and the conviction that there is always a new and better way of seeing.

Sarah Brittain-Mansbridge MBE Direc tor , Cornwall Contemporary

Preorder the exhibition catalogue here

Signed copies of the new book Language of Paint will be available to purchase in the gallery (not by mail order)

Cornwall Contemporary

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