Born in 1977 in Lit­tle Rock, Arkansas, David Jon Kas­san is an inter­na­tion­al­ly rec­og­nized con­tem­po­rary Amer­i­can painter, best known for his life-size rep­re­sen­ta­tion­al paint­ings, which com­bine fig­u­ra­tive sub­jects with sym­bol­ic tex­tured abstract back­grounds. A form of social doc­u­men­tary, David’s paint­ings are often described as raw, poignant and pro­found­ly hon­est, cap­tur­ing human­i­ty in its true form. As an artist, Kas­san acts as an empa­thet­ic inter­me­di­ary between the sub­ject he por­trays and the view­er. More than sim­ply repli­cat­ing his sub­jects Kas­san seeks to under­stand them. He seeks to cap­ture the essence of those he paints, imbu­ing them with their own voice.

David is a laud­ed real­ist painter who brings ​“Fac­ing Sur­vival” to USC Fish­er Muse­um of Art fol­low­ing his res­i­den­cy with the muse­um and USC Shoah Foun­da­tion in 2018. Kassan’s works can be seen in many pub­lic and pri­vate col­lec­tions world­wide. He is rep­re­sent­ed by Gallery Henoch (Chelsea), New York, NY and The Maxwell Alexan­der Gallery, Los Ange­les. Kas­san lives and works in Albu­querque, New Mex­i­co and Brook­lyn, NYC. His art has been exhib­it­ed at the Smith­son­ian Nation­al Por­trait Gallery, The Nation­al Por­trait Gallery in Lon­don, The Scot­tish Nation­al Por­trait Gallery, among others.