Duncan Gates
Phone: 07761051234
Email: duncangates@yahoo.co.uk
1997 Verrocchio Arts Centre, Italy
1993-1996 John Moores University Liverpool, BA (hon) Fine Art, 2:1
1992-1993 KIAD Canterbury, Art and Design.
Duncan grew up on the south east coast of Britain and studied Fine Art at KIAD Canterbury, John Moores University Liverpool and The Verrochio arts centre in Italy. He currently lives and works in Manchester.
After graduation he specialised in antique restoration learning his trade for over ten years. Three years ago he started his own business and is now a company director of ‘Antique Ceramic Restoration Limited’ the country’s largest ceramic restoration company.
Duncan still finds time to develop his own contemporary visual arts practice within the disciplines of drawing, painting and sculpture from his studio space in Stockport. He actively promotes and exhibits his work.
Duncan’s distinctive paintings are derived from sketches, found images, photographs and memories and he draws on his experiences for inspiration. His pictorial world is currently shaped by combining his interest in the emotional connection between humans and dogs and his daily work restoring antique ceramics.
These subjects combine to make vivid contemporary ink paintings of antique porcelain dogs. There is ambiguity as to whether these are real dogs or not, but on closer inspection they are certainly porcelain with subtle light reflecting from the glassy surface. They make you question values of status, wealth and our desire to collect or own rare and beautiful historical objects and of course our desire to have the companionship, ownership or status of a dog by our sides.
The common theme is certainly dogs. and the earlier oil paintings show a real passion for his subject. He sympathetically creates atmospheric and intense paintings; often both welcoming and threatening they make for an ambiguous and beguiling perceptual experience.
“My objective is not to create predictably kitsch images often associated with animal art, but to communicate the subject matter in a more intelligent and contemporary way.”
Duncan paints with a vigour and passion for his subject; fusing sensitivity with dynamic energy he draws inspiration from Caravaggio through to Freud, Bacon and more recently Doig. He has a talent for coherent and cohesive contemporary image making.
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