Artists Registry
Auribeau-sur-Siagne France
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Artist's Statement
Statement of Work
"It only takes a Man
to turn God's words
into the Devil's deeds"
(Yrik Max Valentonis)
Everyone seems to have been touched by the Twin Towers disaster in one way or other and I, along with many other artists, have felt impelled to express my reaction. Two features struck me. First, despite all the teachings of Christ, Mohammed, Buddha and other religious leaders, moralists and philosophers, man's inhumanity to man continues unabated. Secondly, many of the photographs of the disaster had a marked similarity to the images painters have used in Western civilisation over the last millenium to depict man's infliction of suffering, especially in Christian art. I have tried to illustrate these points in my paintings, mainly by adapting photographs taken in the aftermath of September 11th , and putting them into a familiar and often spiritual context. It is probably unfashionable and maybe simply egoistical to imagine that artists can change the way the world operates, yet that, I suppose, is what I am trying to do in my own small way.
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Jeremy Daynes is an English artist who splits his time between teaching children with learning difficulties and painting. He always dreamed about being an artist. For various reasons, he was unable to attend Art College but began his working life in the Art World, first as a Gallery Assistant and then as a Lecturer on the History of Design. Ironically, his lecturing career took him to Kingston College of Art in South London. It was only during holidays that he continued to paint and draw. At age 32, he changed direction and began working with mentally handicapped children in various special schools and for 7 years in the British School of Paris. During this time, Jeremy began to attend life-drawing classes and eventually began teaching life classes at school. Occasionally, he would try his hand at oil painting but always felt that to be a painter, one needed to do it full-time. He expected to have to wait until retirement to fulfil this dream. Fortunately, in July 2001, his dream became reality when he and his wife and daughter relocated to Ticino where his wife had been offered a full-time position. This enabled him to become ‘house-parent’ and painter.
Given the spectacular scenery of Ticino, not unnaturally, Jeremy began his work by focusing on landscapes. However he was totally unable to ignore the events of September 11th, and in fact spent 6 months painting the series on the theme exhibited on this site. The series has occasionally been exhibited in churches in Switzerland and France on the September 11th anniversary but has never been exhibited in a gallery as they do not seem appropriate for the commercial world but he is delighted to be able to exhibit them with other artists on the 9/11 Memorial site.
Jeremy now lives with his wife in the south of France and continues to split his time between teaching and painting. His most recent solo exhibitions have been in Eze in 2012 and 2014.