About the artist

Daniel Fermor-Smith first moved to Malaga to dedicate himself to his painting in July 2003. There he became a member of the Association of Malaga Artists until October 2005, when he moved to Granada. Before coming to Spain Daniel worked as a journalist in England, and before that he lived and worked in various capacities in London, Buenos Aires and Madrid.

Artistic curriculum:

Individual Exhibitions:

12 – 24 January 2009: Exhibition gallery Manuel Rodriguez, University of Granada.
3 – 20 July 2008: "From Antequera to Arundel"; The Prospekt Gallery, Tarrant Street, Arundel, West Sussex.
18 May – 14 June 2006: “Sultanas, Granadinas, Roxanas y Diosas”; Cidi Hiaya Gallery, Pavaneras 9, Granada Capital.
6 – 22 July 2005: Exhibition gallery Moreno Villa, Malaga city; exhibition sponsored jointly by The Department of Culture of Malaga City Council and the Association of Malaga Artists.
June 2004: Exhibition sponsored by The Unicaja Foundation; Antequera, Province of Malaga.
March 16 – May 16, 2004: Vino Mio restaurant; Malaga city.

Collective exhibitions:

December 2008/January 2009: “Winter Group Exhibition”; Cherrylane Fine Art Gallery, Co. Wicklow, Ireland.
September/October 2007: selected for the 9th collective exhibition of Granada artists, sponsored by the Department of Culture and Heritage of The City Council of Granada.
March/April 2007: “The woman in art”; Cidi Hiaya Gallery, Granada.
February/March 2006: “The profile of a woman”; Cidi Hiaya Gallery, Granada.
January 2006: Hay Hill Gallery, 11B Hay Hill, Mayfair, London.
January 2006: “Works on paper”, Cidi Hiaya Gallery, Granada.
November 2005: “Presencias IX”, Malaga city: exhibition sponsored by APLAMA (The Association of Malaga Artists).
June 2005: “Presencias VIII – Urban Malaga”, Malaga city: exhibition sponsored by APLAMA (The Association of Malaga Artists).
September 2003: Circle of Fine Arts Association; Malaga city.
Junio 2003: Totnes Rotary Club South West Devon regional exhibition; Totnes, Devon.

Official Collections:

Unicaja Foundation
University of Granada

A word from the artist:

I’d like to say just a few words here about my aims as an artist and the development of my work to date - this in a bid to give those who are interested a context by which to better understand my work and the inspiration behind it.

Painting for me is nothing more or nothing less than the pursuit of expression, and my aim as an artist is to seek to evoke sentiment, or provoke thought, by way of this expression. In the first case this can be achieved with a picture that embraces strong aesthetic values, and in the second with a picture that makes some commentary or observation of the world we live in, that is it acts as a window onto life. As well as these two main avenues of interest there is also portraiture: the pictorial expression of a person’s essential character. In this website you can find examples of each endeavour.

In a sense I started running before I could walk since my first serious work in Malaga comprised some relatively complex social commentary themes. These include (see Malaga galleries) such grave issues as the Spanish Civil War, ethnic persecution and genocide and orchestrated violence, in pictures such as “The game of chess”, “Going away”, “The road to Almeria”, and “Wailing Women”. Alongside this work you can also see lighter observational works, such as“Lunchtime” and “The Cobbler at Work”, and more aesthetic focused work such as “Woman with Granadas” and “Woman in a headscarf”. All of this Malaga work - though I would say the social commentary in particular - marked a crucial step forward for me both as an artist, and also in a very personal sense, as I found I had a voice by way of artistic expression.

While my two years spent in Malaga gratefully provided me with a bounty of inspiration covering a range of subject matter I was also very fortunate in another way. This was that my work was recognised relatively early on by The Association of Malaga Artists in the form of Paco Jurado, its president, who went about getting me a significant public exhibition in the Sala Moreno Villa Gallery in the centre of Malaga. This exhibition, aptly entitled "Malaga, the first step", marked the culmination of two years work. It also, for both professional and personal reasons, marked the time for me to move on, to Granada.

In Granada I started to paint in oil as oppose to acrylic and this was another steep learning curve. I worked for the first year towards an exhibition at the commercial Cidi Hiaya gallery in the centre of Granada. This exhibition took the somewhat convoluted title of “Sultanas, Granadinas, Roxanas y Diosas” and predominantly comprised pictures of the third category mentioned, that of more aesthetic focused work. The most notable exception to this being the picture “Worship”.

My next project was then India. I had felt increasingly drawn to the east for some time mostly from an aesthetic point of view and no doubt my time in Andalucia had fostered this interest. And so I planned a trip to Rajasthan in September and October 2006 with my sights firmly set on absorbing and recording as much as I could in the time I had. This I subsequently did by way of lots of sketching, study pictures, and photographs. The trip was a much cherished success for it gifted me with those aspects of aesthetic inspiration which I had so hoped it would: the vibrant colours; the simple acts of existence; the light; the interaction of man and animal; and the interaction of the people with water, and so much more that no doubt was subconcious. The results to date you can see in the Rajasthan galleries, which feature pictures of an observational nature, as well as more aesthetic focused work.

Over the past year my work has become more technical and I have set myself to studying more advanced techniques. It is a fantastic stage to have arrived at, for while it is daunting to demand so much more of oneself the potential rewards are tremendously motivating. This stage has also coincided with another exciting development, which is the awakening of a keen interest in landscape painting. This I have to say comes as some relief too for living in a place like Granada you cannot help but feel you are missing a grand prize if you do set out to capture its magical vistas and unique atmosphere.

This I hope has served to give you a bit more background on the work featured in this website. It remains therefore only for me to say that I sincerely hope you enjoy looking at the pictures here and thank you for your interest in them.

Daniel Fermor-Smith
June 2008