Danny Cawley
Danny Cawley is a born and bred Mancunian abstract artist. He lives and paints in central Manchester and sells his work to everyone from rock and roll stars to footballers and priests.
Having been a graffiti artist in Manchester in the 1980′s, Danny incorporates the aerosol technique into his work. The use of these various methods result in a mesmerising and purely original style of art.
“As a kid I loved graffiti art and was in one of the first gangs to spray pieces on walls in Manchester. As I got older I got into psychedelic music, I loved the visual side, which again, involved the use of colours.”
After leaving school, he became involved in the music scene at a time when the spotlight was focused on Manchester. Following a spell of singing in various bands, he became disillusioned with the music industry, and then moved to London, and subsequently Brighton, before eventually returning to Manchester and rekindling his love of painting.
Danny first began experimenting by painting on bits of board he used to find in skips, before moving onto canvasses. After renting a small studio space in Stockport, Danny hid himself away and focused completely on his paintings for three years until he decided he was ready to show the public his work. He exhibited his first painting in Arison Gallery, Chorlton where it sold immediately. He continued to sell his work in various craft shops and galleries in South Manchester, as well as privately to many musicians in the area.
Danny works with oil-based paints, acrylics, glosses, chemicals, and spray paint ~ which results in an unpretentious, energetic style of painting. He works on several paintings at once ~ in his studio in Wellington House, Ancoats ~ moving from one canvas to another on the floor. Danny is a colourist who experiments with texture and depth to create mesmerising abstract expressionistic paintings.
“My work is all about colour, depth, texture and emotion. I want my paintings to breathe, I want them to dance, I want them to shout out loud.
I use various paints and materials to create the depth texture and colour. I use aerosol spray, and I use varnishes and dyes, gloss, acrylics and lots of water.
I paint to music, always. Mainly rock and roll.
The combination of music, coffee and solitude enables me to convert the energy into my work.
I enjoy the process as much as the result, I don’t follow any rules.”