Guy Denning | VERMIBUS "Tipping Point"

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

The Spanish artist Vermibus, born in 1987 in Palma de Mallorca, treats photographs with solvents, altering their aesthetics and their impact. The chemical process must be carefully dosed and stopped at exactly the right moment to achieve the intended result. He has been active as an adbuster for many years.From Fashion Photographer to AdbusterIn 2003 Vermibus moved to Madrid, where he first worked as a photographer in the fashion scene. He has lived in Berlin since 2010. His engagement with the public realm grew out of this experience of the image in advertising.Adbusting as ProtestIn protest against the beauty ideal promoted by advertising, Vermibus removes posters from public space and alters their motifs in his studio. He then rehangs the altered works in the place from which he took them. His aim is to reclaim public space, which he sees as taken over by large companies, and to question the ideals of beauty in advertising and the media. He increasingly photographs his own motifs and edits them in the same process. In doing so he explores the thresholds at which an image fundamentally changes its aesthetics and message.Advertising as the Engine of Consumer SocietyFor the Urban Nation Biennale 2019 in Berlin he created the work Against. It asks what the most decadent failure in human history might be. Vermibus sees a society that defends those who keep a problem going and turns against those who try to solve it. He regards advertising as the key to consumer society.Exhibitions and StationsIn 2012 Vermibus was represented by Unmasking Kate at Leinestraße underground station in Berlin, and in 2013 by Dissolving Europe in Vienna and Milan. In 2014 came La Estética del Dolor at La Taché Gallery in Barcelona. In 2015 and 2017 he took part in the UrbanArt Biennale in Völklingen. In 2016 Open Walls Gallery in Berlin presented Unveiling Beauty, and in 2017 In Absentia.Exhibitions with Pretty PortalIn 2022 Vermibus took part in the group exhibition Mixed Reality. In 2024 Pretty Portal presented Tipping Point with Guy Denning and Vermibus, an exhibition about the thresholds at which the meaning and impact of a work fundamentally change.