David Paul Gleeson’s fascination with the museums and galleries forms the basis of his paintings. He paints people in museums; they are not posed portraits but mere glances at individual engrossed in thought and study. We can often see what is being looked at – a cast from the Victoria and Albert Museum or the Elgin Marbles in the British but we can rarely see the ‘viewer’. We stand behind them, just separated by the picture plane. Gleeson invites us to ‘look but not touch’ much like when we are actually in a museum. The distance between us and the person depicted is the same as that between them and the artefact from history that they have travelled to see. They become an object to be viewed and studied from afar.

Gleeson’s carefully wrought images are not limited to paintings of interiors. His mastery of Still Life is quite astounding. A vase of flowers, an old tin jug, cutlery scattered across a table; whatever he paints it is always with a knowing eye and skilful hand. Time passes slowly, each object revealing a little mystery as we gaze. Who are the flowers for, why is the table in disarray? As we ‘stop and stare’ a story is revealed, but it is story that we have bought to the panting rather than one implied by the artist.

Gleeson’s technique is refined and meticulous. He paints on a small scale, one could say his works are contemporary cabinet pieces, things to be looked at closely and examined. Gleeson paints on carefully prepared board with tiny strokes of acrylic paint. The matt effect given by this medium further removes the subjects from reality. His figures are, however, full of life. The flesh tones and natural poses of his figures in thought have a real energy. Each painting is clearly a labour of love; Gleeson’s studies of everyday people removed from the everyday are truly exquisite examples of an artist absorbed by and in complete control of his subject matter.

Each of my carefully wrought images – portraits, interiors, still lives – is informed by considered draughtsmanship, close attention to detail, colour and texture. More than an accurate record of the visual world, they are imbued with an enduring quality, a stillness that transforms the everyday into moments of beauty and illumination. Each picture becomes its own small world, as the artist’s contemplative vision suggests a realm of untold stories.
David Paul Gleeson

David Paul Gleeson was born in Manchester, and studied Visual Art at Aberystwyth University and painting at Wolverhampton University. Since 1984 he has exhibited in numerous solo and group shows across the UK, the USA and South Africa. He has won prizes in seventeen exhibitions including ‘The Discerning Eye’, Huntington Art’ and the Royal Academy Summer exhibition.