#38 Guy Denning

"Dreyfus"

Guy Denning was born in 1965. Denning is an English contemporary artist and painter who is based in France. He is the founder of the Neomodern group, a member of Stuckism International, and part of the urban art scene in Bristol. Denning's early work included an interest in Franz Kline. His work was characterized by powerful and expressive brushstrokes but his work was mainly abstract. More recently his work has combined early influences with an increasingly more figurative style of painting. The human figure is prominent in his latest work. Denning uses the human figure to convey powerful emotions that often have political overtones. His series entitled "Icarus" is an example of this approach. Structurally Denning's work is very dynamic, it shows concern for draughtsmanship with a spontaneous application of color. Denning makes his painting and drawings from observation and photographic references. Guy Denning not only uses powerful brush strokes to express emotions in his painting but also scratches the paint to show his audience the intensity of the emotions he is trying to portray in his artwork. In his work Denning also employs the technique of blacking out the eyes and mouth of some of his paintings in order to emphasize his theme of darkness, horror, and even despair. Also sometimes with his work Guy Denning uses stencils and collaged text. Guy stated that his paintings are significantly influenced by the subject of war. This is because when he was a young child his parents took him to France to a cemetery at Verdun, which he says is the most significant thing that has ever happened to him. Since 1992 Guy Denning has had exhibits across Britain. Since 2007 he has exhibited work in the United States, Italy, and France. In 1997 Denning founded the neomodern group. In 2004 he founded the Bristol Stuckist Group. In 2011 Guy Denning claims to no longer be a Neomodernist, a Stuckist, or even an Urban Artist, he now says that he is just an artist. Guy Denning artist statement says "The visual arts are the focus of culture; they are the most important road leading humanity away from its old home of "nature". From the earliest finger scratched image in the dirt, to the cave paintings of Lascaux to the iron "angel of the north" they represent our fundamental desire and drive to replace the nature chaos with a cultural order. The visual arts so often served spiritual ends because of this representation. At its basest level artists take dirt, model and make significance. It is not coincidence that the state funded galleries of the world have taken on the presence that only religious buildings once had. Art isn't about communication. It's about the search for significance and control in a world of anonymity and chaos."







http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Denning



http://guydenning.org/