Guy Denning (born 1965) is a

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individu ...

English contemporary artist and painter based in France. He is the founder of the

Neomodern Neomodern or neomodernist architecture is a reaction to the complexity of postmodern architecture and eclecticism in architecture, seeking greater simplicity. The architectural style, which is also referred to as New Modernism, is said to have le ...

group and part of the

urban art Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

scene in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

.Metcalfe, Anna
"Off the streets"
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Ni ...

'', 26 May 2008. Retrieved 31 May 2008.

Biography

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 applied to study at several art colleges during the 1980s but was refused entry. 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 Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

. It was the most significant thing that ever happened to me." Beginning in 1992, Denning has exhibited across Britain. 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, Denning delayed its exhibition. The show was completely sold out. In February 2008, he sold two works in

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

Urban Art auction. Denning held a trio of international exhibitions in 2011/12 showcasing paintings interpreting

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian people, Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', origin ...

's ''

Divine Comedy The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature ...

''. The paintings examined Britain's failings and political problems. In 2013 he was one of the artists invited to participate in the Paris

Tower 13 Tower 13 (), also known as Paris Tower 13 () was a building used for an ephemeral street art exhibition in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, France. The conversion of the building into a street art exhibition began in September 2013 and ended in ...

urban art project. In 2015 Denning spoke at the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

presentation at the

COP21 The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11 was held in Paris, France, from 30 November to 12 December 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Conve ...

climate conference concerning artistic activism and climate change awareness. In 2018, for the centenary of the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

, Denning pasted 112 life size drawings of French

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

soldiers to the walls of the village of La Feuillee to mark the loss of that particular village during the war.

Notable solo exhibitions

*2012 'Dante's Paradiso' Signal Gallery, London, UK *2010 'Behemoth' Red Propeller Gallery/The Crypt Gallery, St Martin in the Fields, London, UK

Notes and references

External links

Guy Denning official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denning, Guy 1965 births Living people 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters 20th-century English male artists 21st-century English male artists