British artist Daniels' eye-grabbing trompe l’oeil works are a tussle between abstraction and realism. The result is a richly associative blend of painting, sculpture, photography, and theater, filled with references to diverse subjects such as European paintings or shoe advertisements.
William Daniels pushes photorealism into abstraction. Claiming “Painting by its nature is just painting light,” he captures the nuances of light and form in his meticulously painted canvases, in which he foregrounds the tension between reality and artifice inherent to his medium. It's a methodical three-part process: he begins by constructing a maquette out of aluminum foil or scraps of paper and cardboard, then carefully lights and photographs the maquette, working from the photograph to make his paintings.
Daniels recreates iconic historical works — including Caravaggio, William Blake, J.M.W. Turner and Georg Baselitz — as well as adverts from famous brands.
-
William DanielsYves Saint Laurent, 2020oil on board38 x 30.5 cm
14 15/16 x 12 1/16 in -
William DanielsHelmut Lang, 2020oil on board33 x 26 cm
12 15/16 x 10 3/16 in -
William DanielsNew Look, 2020oil on board38.5 x 31 cm
15 2/16 x 12 3/16 in -
William DanielsFoot B, 2019oil on board31 x 27 cm
12 3/16 x 10 10/16 in -
William DanielsLudwig Richter on his way to work, 2019oil on board34.5 x 30.5 cm
13 9/16 x 12 1/16 in -
William DanielsB for Larry, 2019oil on board36.4 x 28 cm
14 5/16 x 11 1/16 in -
William DanielsFoot A, 2019oil on board31.9 x 26.3 cm
12 8/16 x 10 5/16 in -
William DanielsThe Sheperd, 2019oil on board34 x 29 cm
13 6/16 x 11 6/16 in
