PARADIS EST ICI 
Lápiz y pastel sobre papel de periodico
60x84cm 2015

 

 

Guy Denning (born 1965) is a self taught English contemporary artist and painter based in France. He is the founder of the Neomodern group and part of the urban art scene in Bristol.

Guy Denning was born in Somerset, England in October 1965. Prior to his commercial success in art he worked full-time on top of his painting at weekends and at night. He had a series of jobs, working as a roofer, general labourer, shop assistant, and pathology lab worker. He was also a political and trade union activist. In 2007 he moved to Brittany, France.

Guy Denning is a self-taught painter. He says that he was drawing from childhood and that was where his competency came from. “I did little but draw and read – I certainly didn’t mix with other kids. First oil paintings were done at age 10 or 11 after my dad gave me a set of oil paints that he’d got bored with (a passing hobby in his 30s). I was hooked from the start.”

He applied to study at several art colleges during the 1980s but was refused entry. He continued his art education by studying Art History and getting a degree in the subject with The Open University.
Denning’s early work included an interest in the work of Franz Kline and was characterised by powerful, expressive brushstrokes in mainly abstract paintings. More recently he has combined earlier influences with an increasingly figurative style of painting. The human figure features strongly in his latest work and he uses this subject matter to convey powerful emotions, often with political overtones. The Icarus series of works is an example of this approach. Structurally his work is very dynamic showing a concern for strong draughtsmanship with a spontaneous application of colour. He does not always work to set motifs, but sometimes makes paintings and drawings from observation and photographic reference. He has stated that his work has been significantly informed by the subject of war “When I was about 11 or 12 I came to France with my parents and they took me to the war cemetery at Verdun. It was the most significant thing that ever happened to me.”
His paintings have been shown in many solo and mixed exhibitions. Notable solo shows include ‘Purgatorio’ at Brooklynite, New York; ‘Inferno’ at MAGI’900, Bologna and ‘Behemoth’ at St Martin in the Fields, London. His work is held in several important public collections, including the Politics Department of Bristol University, the Political Science Department at Galway University and the MAGI’900 Museum of Contemporary Art, Bologna.
From 1992, he has exhibited across Britain.Since 2007 he has exhibited also in the United States of America, Spain, Germany, Italy and France.

In 1997, he founded the neomodern group. His work appeared in the Triumph of Stuckism exhibition at Liverpool John Moores University as part of the 2006 Liverpool Biennial.
In 2007, he joined Red Propeller Gallery. His first solo show with Red Propeller Gallery featured paintings connected to the 9/11 terrorist attack. Although created at the time of this atrocity, a period of time was needed to elapse before the public were ready to revisit this trauma and Denning timed this to perfection as the discussion created from this show led to it being completely sold out propelled him into the mainstream art scene. In February 2008, he sold two works in Bonhams Urban Art auction in New Bond Street with one painting achieving £9,600.

Also in 2007 there was a studio fire at his new home in France in which Denning lost 20 years of accumulated work.

Denning held a trio of international exhibitions in 2011/12 showcasing paintings interpreting Dante’s Divine Comedy. The paintings examined Britain’s failings and political problems.

In 2017 the largest exhibition of Denning’s work to date was held at Hartlepool Art Gallery.