Guy Denning
England
Guy Denning was born in North Somerset in 1965. Even as a child, he was obsessed with the visual arts, and at the age of eleven he painted his first oil paintings, inspired by old, dusty paintings that a relative had given him. In the 1980s, his applications to study fine arts were rejected, but this did not deter him from pursuing his passion. He studied art history, continued to paint, and learned painting techniques from various older artists in the West of England. In 1992, he exhibited throughout the United Kingdom, followed in 2007 by exhibitions in the United States, Germany, Italy, and France. His works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions and are part of various public collections, including those of the Department of Political Science at the University of Bristol, the Department of Political Science at the University of Galway, and the MAGI’900 Museum of Contemporary Art in Bologna.Denning's works combine a traditional painting style with contemporary, punk-inspired text incorporated as collages and stencils. His visual language and aesthetic, blended with the political narrative that runs through his work, have earned Denning a loyal following among art collectors and urban art enthusiasts.„Urban art is not a new phenomenon. People have been declaring their presence, their humour, their fears and their anger in the streets for as long as there have been streets for it to be seen in. It’s the most democratic form of art; it’s a medium that is available to any that feel the need to use it. With the acceptance and celebration of graffiti culture in the twentieth century it has come to a point where it is now sited behind the streets, in fashionable galleries. Yes, fashions change, but don’t ever think that the graffiti will fade away. That particular writing has always been on the wall.“ – Guy Denning