Dameon Priestly

www.dameon.co.uk
dameon@dameon.co.uk

The preoccupation and inspiration for Dameon Priestly's paintings is the story behind the picture - what is not seen.

Is there such a thing as an average man or woman? Is there ever such a thing as an average day? What goes on in the minds of the sexes and what happens behind closed doors? Dameon's paintings engage in a series of narratives which subtly weave their way through the paintings: a visual depiction of what can lie beneath the surface; at times in a seemingly innocent image.

Dameon's view of the world may be termed dark by some; his series of paintings reveal the 'strangeness' concealed behind the seemingly banal and random monotony of lifes' experiences and human behaviour.

The stories they tell are those which the viewer does not necessarily want to know; and yet forces them to fill in that which is not always apparent, resulting in the uncomfortable recognition of a disturbing undertone.

Often Dameon depicts people seeking an alternative life and sees straight to the fragile hearts of his characters without ever becoming sentimental.

With rare exceptions, his stories end with disturbing circumstances; as he captures his subject's quiet desperation, with full emotional tension, anxiety and melancholy. Portrayed against everyday backdrops where the drama unfolds.

His work lends itself to those basics of old-fashioned storytelling: plot, character, and action. The culminating results within the paintings are sometimes both simultaneously beautiful and haunting; or arresting in their strength.

Dameon sources literature; both fact and fiction, movies, religion, social and political history as his inspirational pool; he lives and works in London and has sold paintings nationally and internationally.

CV

Born: 1966 Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Graduated University of Ulster 1988 - BA Hons 2:1 Fashion and Textiles -
Design and Illustration (Irish Design graduate of the year).

Currently living and working in London.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
2009:
Florence Biennale, Italy
‘Crumpled Milkskin’, Jeffery West, 16 Piccadilly Arcade, London UK
‘Altered States’, Paul MacPherson Gallery. Greenwich, London

2008:
'Sulphur Skies, Oily Coins', Jeffery West, 16 Piccadilly Arcade, London
Waterstone's, Garrick Street, London

2007:
'Lady Luck', Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
'Lady Luck', My Life in Art, 4 Broadway Market, London

2006:
'Malice in Wonderland' Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
'Missing series 2', Jeffery West, Cullum Street, London

2005:
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
Jeffery West, County Arcade, Victoria Quarter, Leeds
The Art Bar, Walton Street, South Kensington, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London

2004:
The Art Bar, Walton Street, South Kensington, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
Jeffery West, Cullum Street, London
The Mint Bar, Chalk Farm

2003:
Jeffery West, Cullum Street, London
The Mint Bar, Chalk Farm, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
The Art Bar, Walton Street, South Kensington, London

2002:
Devonshire Mews Members Lounge, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
East London Gallery, London

2001:
Devonshire Mews Members Lounge, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London

2000:
Elm's Lester Paintings Rooms, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly Arcade, London
23 Romily Street, Private Members Lounge, London

1999:
East London Gallery, London
Vic Naylors Restaurant, London
Jeffery West, Piccadilly, London

Group exhibitions
2009
'Something Different', APW Gallery, 48-18 Van Dam St. Long Island City NYC
'Art on Record', APW Gallery 48-18 Van Dam St. Long Island City NYC

2008
Toronto International Art Fair 2nd Oct-6 Oct
'Realty Bites', Archangel Gallery, Ireland
Esmond Robinson Gallery, London
Untitled Gallery, 9 Adam Street, London

2007
Florence Biennale, 1-9 December 2007
Invited to exhibit at the Florence Biennale Dell'Arte Contemporanea, Italy

Articles
Camden News Journal
Predators at the doors of innocence
28 August 2009

Dealer Deluxe magazine (English/French)
Portrait: Dameon Priestly
Autumn 2008

Artsource Newsletter - Online Magazine (http://artsource-newsletter.org/)
Dameon Priestly: The Messages between the Layers
April 2008

Hackney Gazette
Extra
States of the Art
Thursday 14 June 2007

London Informer
Editorial
Blasphemy or Fair Comment
Friday 27 October, 2006

Nude Magazine
Issue 7 winter 2005