About the work

This is a drawing of a multi-faceted, stage-like space in which planes, surfaces and volumes run through and across one another. This is suggestive of the multiple histories one finds worn into surfaces, whether by “natural” or human forces, something which features in my larger works and paintings in different forms.

Date and country of birth

1977, GB

About the artist

Born 1977, Benjamin Deakin lives and works in London. Graduated from Kingston University, and MA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (2006).

Deakin’s paintings are composites of images from various travels and artist residencies as well as more everyday experiences. They reflect his long-term interest in the power of places to trigger associations, particularly connections to art history. He is interested in the way in which culture influences how we perceive and value certain types of place and environment. This can manifest itself in many ways, for example by experiencing a kind of everyday surrealism or romanticism blossoming suddenly in the corner of a street, a site of ancient ruins or an unusual rock-formation.

Selected exhibitions include Reimagining Nowhere, The William Morris Society, London (2020); Waving in the Distance, Terrace Gallery, London (2020); Detritus, Wells Projects, London (2019); Betwixt & Between, Arthouse1, London (2019); Re-Assemble, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London (2019); Seeking News From Nowhere, The Concept Space, London (2018); Defining Structure, The Cello Factory, London (2018); We are Building a New World, Studio 1.1, London, (2017); Making the Nature Seen, Tannery Projects, London (2016); and Screen, Turps Gallery, London (2015).

Selected residencies include PADA studios, Lisbon (2018); Listhus, Olafsfjordur (2016); the Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture in Dawson City, Yukon (2008); and University of Kathmandu, Nepal (2005). Awards include the Marmite Prize for Painting, London (2012).