David Arthur Katz
b: Miami, FL (USA), 1949

David Katz's art training began under the tutelage of Duane Hanson, a pop artist focusing on social statements through sculpture. Salvador LaRosa, a well known Florida based artist exploring modern day expressionism, instilled in Katz an intense personal vision and influences from German Expressionism. David Katz graduated from the University of South Florida with a masters in art. There he was influenced by Charles Lyman, an experimental filmmaker and Stan Vanderbeck, a pioneer in animation techniques. His work was his salvation, keeping him sane or insane depending upon your perspective.

Various art movements are evident in David Katz's work like German Expressionism, Fauvism, and Pop Art. Artists that influenced him are Paul Klee, Andy Warhol, Jean Dubuffet, Stan Vanderbeck, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Frank Stella, Karel Appel, Robert Rauschenberg, and Kathe Kollwitz. Thinkers like Freud, Jung, Kafka, and Sartre also had a great impression.

David Katz's works have been selected for numerous film festivals from Brazil (Anima Mundi) to Chicago (Chicago International Animation Festival) and New York (New York International Film Festival) to Los Angeles (AIVF DV Expo). Cartoon Sea, a recent work, was selected for worldwide viewing by Film Aid, in association with the United Nations and has been used as an interstitial on PBS.

David Katz's Cartoon Consciousness, Embryo, and Mega One have been acquired by the Mississippi Museum of Art, the USF Contemporary Art Museum, and the Bass Museum of Art for their permanent collection. David Katz has recently been asked to be part of the Canal Street Projection Project. The event is part of the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce arts program.

David Katz has enjoyed being a children's book illustrator for the past fourteen years, illustrating a total of fourteen books. His illustrations or "book art" have been acquired by the Mazza Museum in Ohio, the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey, the de Grummond Collection in Mississippi, and the Northeast Children's Literature Collection at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center in Connecticut. The Mazza Museum exhibited Katz' video installation Cartoon Sea in June 2005. Gail Aaron of the Zimmerli Art Museum wrote that David Katz' "works will make a fine addition to our collection, not only because the original illustration and print are very beautiful, but also because it provides an outstanding example of the use of digital technology to produce exciting new illustrations for children's books." David Katz is the president of Cascade Pass, he has also acted as the director for the Future Girls: Adventures in Marine Biology television program and as art director on the company's line of CD ROMS.

Katz also recently spoke at the DV Expo in Los Angeles about using the medium of digital video in art. The panel included Michael Massucci and Kate Johnson from EZTV, Kimberly Reed from DV Magazine, and French video artist Sandy Amareau.

David Katz is currently working with jazz composer Robert Lockart on putting his newest piece entitled "Jazzy Art" to music. The work was inspired by jazz legends like John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Thelonius Monk. The animation explores the importance of music and the roots of jazz. David Katz continues to work in Marina del Rey, California.