artists register

gary oneil


gary oneil

gary oneil

Paint, Print, Furniture

West Midlands
United Kingdom


Past Exhibitions

Galleries

  • the Island Gallery Bristol, Bristol
Bittersweet

Bittersweet

Acrylic on canvas
60" x 48"

Statement

 My current work is primarily concerned with investigating the language of painting, where strategies have been used to make postmodern imagery. References to formal and structured concepts inherent within the Modernist period are combined together with techniques and methods which imitate machine made, photographic and digital images which are prevalent in today’s society. I have a certain resonance with Fiona Rae who recently said,           

“I love mixing it up. I don’t care where my bits of imagery, paint strokes or techniques come from once I make them on the canvas they’re mine and I own them. I am interested in having an ‘everything goes’ attitude to painting. I want it to be inclusive and democratic”.

We live in a globalised culture where unexpected collisions and conversations take place and  produce templates for a rich, diverse and sometimes unsettling world. Contradictions are abundant in my work, and although images may appear to have been applied arbitrarily, some are used repeatedly suggesting a selection process is being applied. Theatrical, romantic and decadent themes pervade the work and are juxtaposed with references to decay and so called ‘development’ within our cities, luring the ‘masses’ to a hedonistic lifestyle. 

Biography

 British artist Gary O'Neil was born in Birmingham where he spent his formative years before leaving for spells in the U.S.A. and the English South West. Whilst in the U.S. he spent time spraying T-Shirts on the beaches of Florida, the flavour .of this time finds a way into his work today whick is juxtaposed with a gritty urban feel.

He achieved a distinction in FDA Fine Art at Exeter Art College and graduated with a B.A.1st class Hons. Fine Art from Plymouth University and was awarded the Ben Hartley prize in 2011.