Simon Keenleyside

(b 1975United Kingdom. Lives and works in Rayleigh)

Over the years, Simon Keenleyside has become known for a style of painting that draws its inspiration in equal parts from the tradition of English landscape painting and modern abstraction. The artist’s source of inspiration are the landscapes of his family home in Essex, including the banks of the River Thames and the woods that he played in as a child. These two sites prompted the artist to dwell on the ontological understanding of place.
Although references to landscapes prevail in his work, more recently the British artist has moved away from representing physical space and has placed a greater emphasis on the evocation of the mental states, desires and anxieties that accompany him during his travels in the region. He portrays the surrounding landscape not in its natural form but with his polychromatic, dreamlike vision.

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