The Paintings of Graham Dean

Graham Dean has an international reputation as a contemporary figurative painter.

His paintings use the figure not in a literal way but more as a vehicle to convey ideas, emotions and psychological states. Whilst his works are representational, they escape the illustrative through his ability to draw a broader meaning from the deeply personal.

He employs a technique that he calls "reverse archaeology", by which he transforms the conventional use of watercolour painting. Contrasting layers of paint are laid separately onto porous handmade Indian paper, achieving a density and brilliance of colour that is visceral in its effects, merging the figure with the organic process of paint spreading through paper. Sections from several different versions of the same composition are torn away and reassembled in a form of collage, lending each image a rawness and immediacy which supports the emotive and dramatic qualities of the works. He has exhibited internationally now for over 25 years and his work is in many private and public collections throughout the world.

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