Jonathan Dean
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My art is inspired by a love of line, colour, rhythm and movement. I want my work to have the same kind of immediate impact that music can: on the senses, the imagination and the emotions. Although there is a figurative element behind many of my pictures, the final images can be quite abstract – I like exploring the borderline between what is real and imaginary, concrete and suggestive. A recurring theme in my work is that of release and breaking free from constraints: the expression of free-flowing untrammelled energy…
I began drawing cartoon books from an early age and was lucky, from the age of 10, to have my cartoons filmed at the Richard Williams Animation Studios in Soho. Then, however, a parallel interest in music and musical composition took over, and this is what I went on to study at Cambridge University, the Royal College of Music, and the Banff Centre School of Fine Arts in Canada. Writing and illustrating children’s books for my son gradually led me back to art: I studied watercolour with Sarah Christian at Morley College for four years, and then took a further four years of classes in life painting and mixed media with Denzil Forrester. Exhibitions Made in Morley 2008, Morley Gallery, London, 2008 ‘Gardens Images’, Queen’s Park Cafe, London, 2009 Made in Morley 2010, Morley Gallery, London, 2010 Brent Artists Resource Spring/Winter exhibitions, London, 2010 Opening exhibition, The Wise Owl Venue, London, 2012 Regeneration, Brent Artists Resource, London, 2013 ‘Aqua-Reale’, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London, 2013 The Rootstein Hopkins Drawing Exhibition, Morley Gallery, London, 2013 ‘A Year in Abstract’, Food For Thought Cafe, London, 2014 ‘Crazy Skaters’, Food For Thought Cafe, London, 2015 Pure Painting, Brent Artists Resource, London, 2015 Black and White, Brent Artists Resource, London, 2015 Figure and Portrait, Brent Artists Resource, London, 2015 Made 2016, Morley Gallery, London, 2016 Life Line, The Landing Gallery, Morley College, London, 2016 ‘Unlimited’, Espacio Gallery, London, 2018 ‘Boundaries and beyond’, Espacio Gallery, London, 2019 ‘Free up the Mind’, Espacio Gallery, London 2019 ‘RGB’, Espacio Gallery, London 2020 ‘Uplift’, Espacio Gallery London 2021 ‘Crossed Paths’, Espacio Gallery, London 2021 Flux (2) Review: online exhibition, 2021 ‘Transformations’, Espacio Gallery 2022 |
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