Dan McDermott

Dan McDermott paints dynamic photorealist canvases. Working in an energetic and highly individual style he captures momentary visions of the world around us and the world we see through film and the media.

McDermott’s work is directed by his attraction to the reproduced image. Drawing upon archives of photographic stills collected from film, internet, television and documentary footage from the 1940s to the present, McDermott paints nostalgic scenes of city streets, speeding cars, urban landscapes, celebrities, artists and movie-stars.

Transforming each image from film through digital photography and finally into paint, McDermott uses an increasingly adventurous palette to explore the boundaries of his materials. Each of his paintings is characterised by atypical angles and a unique use of cropping.

Dan McDermott has exhibited extensively throughout Britain and abroad since graduating from the University of Northumbria in 1995. Most recently he has been involved in a number of solo and group exhibitions in London and New York, including shows held at the Northcote Gallery, London, The Clapham Gallery, London and The Silas Marder Gallery, New York. McDermott has been exhibiting on Cork Street with Alon Zakaim Fine Art since 2006. His first solo show at the gallery, ‘A Glimpse of Urban Life’ was held in February 2007. Returning to Cork Street for a second consecutive year, Alon Zakaim Fine Art is exhibiting McDermott’s latest works in ‘Second Focus’ during May 2008.

Alon Zakaim Fine Artpresents

Dan McDermottA collection of the recent oil on canvas works by Dan McDermott, including

paintings featured in ‘A Glimpse of Urban Life’ exhibited at Alon Zakaim Fine Art in February 2007 and ‘Second Focus’ exhibited at Alon Zakaim Fine Art in May 2008

30 Cork Street, London W1S 3NG T +44 (0)20 7287 7750 F +44 (0)20 7287 7751gallery@alonzakaim.com www.alonzakaim.com

Second FocusAlon Zakaim Fine Art has the pleasure of hosting Second Focus, an exhibition of oil paintings by Dan McDermott. McDermott’s latest collection breathes new life into scenes and figures from decades past.

Second Focus takes us on a journey from the familiarity of McDermott’s urban streets and into the rooms, lives and minds of his subjects. Captivated by the individual moment, McDermott seeks to generate a narrative in each image irrespective of its original context. The artist focuses on fleeting moments; a glance, a beam of light or a passing figure and in monumentalising seemingly meaningless seconds McDermott saves them from being swallowed by the succeeding frame and renders them timeless. The brilliantly vibrant canvases shimmer and flicker in the manner of the screens from where their subjects came.

Union City, 2008, oil on canvas, 100 x 130cm

Edie, 2008, oil on canvas, 76 x 100cm

Nightclub, 2006, oil on canvas, 64 x 79cmExhibited: O Contemporary, 2007 Northcote Galley, 2006

“It’s my ankle that hurts,” 2008, oil on canvas, 160 x 240cm

Warhol, 2008, oil on canvas, 95 x 200cm

Businessmen, 2008, oil on canvas, 130 x 170cm

Red Car, 2008, oil on canvas, 61 x 101cmExhibited: Ferreira Projects, 2008

Model, 2008, oil on canvas, 100 x 130cm

Man Drinking Beer, 2008, oil on canvas, 80 x 110cm

Woman on staircase, 2008, oil on canvas, 76 x 127cm

Car SeriesDan McDermott’s retro cars and urban American scenes take us on a nostalgic journey from the 1940s onwards. Portraying a romanticised vision of America, McDermott finds his inspiration from the images we have all grown up watching on television and the cinema screen.

Combining rich tone and colour with unusual vantage points, McDermott employs his materials with energy and exuberance. It is in the final stages of his work, that the busy urban streets, passing figures and speeding cars are blurred into fleeting moments of glittering light.

The oil on canvas paintings in ‘Car Series’ have featured in a number of exhibitions across the UK including Ferreira Projects, Northcote Gallery, Alon Zakaim Fine Art, London and O Contemporary Gallery, Brighton.

Headlights, 2006, oil on canvas, 100 x 140cmExhibited: Northcote Gallery, 2006

Haze II, 2005, oil on canvas, 102 x 132cmExhibited: Alon Zakaim Fine Art, 2007 Northcote Gallery, 2006 Clapham Art Gallery, 2005

Windshield, 2006, oil on canvas, 107 x 178cmExhibited: Ferreira Projects, 2008 Alon Zakaim Fine Art, 2007 Northcote Gallery, 2006

Tail Light, 2004, oil on canvas,102 x 132cmExhibited: Clapham Art Gallery, 2004

Blue Green, 2005, oil on canvas, 76 x 127cmExhibited: Clapham Art Gallery, 2006

Two Cars, 2006, oil on linen, 55 x 90cmExhibited: Alon Zakaim Fine Art, 2007 Northcote Gallery, 2006

Black & White Car, 2006, oil on canvas, 55 x 90cmExhibited: Ferreira Projects, 2008 Alon Zakaim Fine Art, 2007 Northcote Gallery, 2006

Solo Exhibitions2008 Second Focus, Alon Zakaim Fine Art, London2008 Northcote Gallery, Chelsea, London2007 A Glimpse of Urban Life, Alon Zakaim Fine Art, London2006 Northcote Gallery, Chelsea, London2003 Cruise, Clapham Art Gallery, London2002 New Paintings Part II, Clapham Art Gallery, London2001 New Paintings Part I, Clapham Art Gallery, London

Exhibitions2008 Pure Painting, Ferreira Projects, London Northcote Gallery Chelsea, London2007 Northcote Gallery Chelsea, London Driven, The Fieldgate Gallery, London The Silas Marder Gallery NY, USA London Art Fair Alon Zakaim Fine Art, London2006 Club 43, London Andara Gallery, Jakarta, Indonesia The Affordable Art Fair, Autumn Collection, London O Contemporary Gallery, Brighton London-Paris-New York, Collyer-Bristow Gallery, London Grand opening, Leonard Street Gallery, London

2005 The Affordable Art Fair, New York City The Affordable Art Fair, Autumn Collection, London The Affordable Art Fair West, Bristol Art London, London Jacob1 Gallery, Paris London Art Fair, London Gallery Artists, Clapham Art Gallery, London Gallery Artists, The Art Lounge, Manchester Louis Aronow Gallery, San Francisco

2004 Louis Aronow Gallery, San Francisco Scapes, Mark Jason Fine Art, London Blur, Mark Jason Fine Art, London

ING Platform 100, The Discerning Eye, ING Bank London The Avenue Restaurant, London The Affordable Art Fair, New York City The Affordable Art Fair Autumn Collection, London Art London, London The Affordable Art Fair West, Bristol Six Degrees of Separation, Clapham Art Gallery, London Urban Perspectives, The Art Lounge, Birmingham London Art Fair, London Gallery Artists, Clapham Art Gallery, London 2003 Modern Collectibles, London Metropolis 2, Mark Jason Fine Art, London The Affordable Art Fair, New York City The Affordable Art Fair Autumn Collection, London Focus, Mark Jason Fine Art, London Art London, London Phoenix Gallery, Glasgow The Art Lounge, Birmingham Art 2003, London Art Fair Gallery Artists, Clapham Art Gallery, London2002 Metropolis, Mark Jason Fine Art, London The Affordable Art Fair, New York City The Affordable Art Fair Autumn Collection, London The Affordable Art Fair West, Bristol Art London, London Glasgow Art Fair, Glasgow Ex-pectator, East 73rd Gallery, London Art 2002, London Art Fair2001 The Affordable Art Fair Autumn Collection, London The Affordable Art Fair West, Bristol Designers Block, London Residual, East 73rd Gallery, London Flava, Art. Co, Leeds Blumin Art, Leeds2000 Alps 2000, Pembroke Lodge, London Loop, Snow Gallery, Leeds

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