David Crompton is a Canadian multidisciplinary artist. Walking as inquiry, he focuses on the subtle, often overlooked corners of urban spaces and the transient objects, architectural forms, and occupants found within them. Through photography, printed matter, sound and motion imagery, he treats the city as evidence of daily life, documented with forensic care.
A graduate of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, his work has been exhibited in galleries, festivals, and media channels throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Crompton’s pieces are included in the Media Centre collection at the Marshall McLuhan Salon (Canadian Embassy in Berlin) and he has been awarded grants by the Canada Council for the Arts and the British Columbia Arts Council.
Crompton has produced several photography-based artist zines, including Common (2014), Strait Goods (2017), and the five-volume Surrounded (2017), which highlights his work from 2013 to 2017. His most recent collection, Umwelt (2024), documents work from 2018 to 2024.
He lives and works on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
ARTISt PUBLICATIONS
2024 – Umwelt
2017 – Surrounded. 01: Other Geometries
2017 – Surrounded. 02: Surface Area
2017 – Surrounded. 03: PNW
2017 – Surrounded. 04: Strays
2017 – Surrounded. 05: Unpopular Music
2017 – Strait Goods
2014 – Common
2012 – Where I'm From
CONTRIBUTIONS TO PUBLICATIONS
2025 – Duct Tape Magazine [Issue Number 5: A Shared Madness] | Mark Mizgala, Jennifer Nikkel
2024 – Duct Tape Magazine [Issue Number 3: Vancouver Special] | Mark Mizgala, Jennifer Nikkel
2008 – Damp: Contemporary Vancouver Media Art | Oliver Hockenhull, Alex Mackenzie | Published by Anvil Press | ISBN 978-1-895636-89-5
2004 – The Banal | Cate Rimmer, published by SBC Galerie d'art contemporain | ISBN 978-0-920473-71-9