Darryl Westly American, b. 1989
Darryl Westly is a mixed media artist and curator whose paintings layer hyperrealism, architectural elements with idealized landscapes and art historical references. Westly graduated from Pratt Institute as a sculpture major and holds a BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and the Arts. A former assistant to celebrity pop artist Jeff Koons, the Chicago-born painter currently works alongside the art collective Bruce High Quality in Brooklyn and in his studio in Manhattan. He has curated shows for Christie’s Auction House, FiveMyles and Miranda Kuo, and most recently was commissioned to design a Digital watch for Fossil.
The artist uses bright, tropical colours to capture the sentiment of the American dream, which he titles his first series of work. The vibrant florals and well-constructed architectural designs imply a pleasurable and much-needed vacation from the quotidian life, taking the viewer on a journey into a coastal destination. However, Westly took a stance on the national ethos, “the legend of American exceptionalism and the reality of current of events has created a steep contrast between the dream and reality of what this country really represents throughout the world today.” He started with foods, particularly the most popular foods in America as recorded by internet trends and decided to paint the early images in a photorealist style that recalls mass-market consumerist advertisements. Eventually he began to use those images found within popular design and travel magazines after being struck by the often-colonizing language used to exotify certain countries while regaling others.
Through his work, Westly shows impressive variety in style, as his second collection of work is vastly different from his more standard work. His second series, The Sleepless has been by extension a diary or catalogue of his time maturing in New York city where the paintings are more ostentatious, with flashy neon fluorescent lights lighting up the night of the urban city. For the new series interior/exterior ‘landscapes’, Westly uses the streets, walls and architecture of Beirut as his inspiration. Colour, voids, shadows and light merge to create a perspective to the past, present and future of the city.
Darryl Westly’s works have been exhibited in London, Athens and across USA. In 2016, he was awarded a residency with Beirut Art Residency, Lebanon.
Born in 1989 in Chicago, United States.
Lives and works in New York.
Solo Exhibition
2019 Interior/Exterior, PARISTEXASLA Gallery, Los Angeles, USA.
Group Exhibitions
2020 In Full Bloom, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
Fragmented Bodies, Albertz Benda, New York, USA
2019 Vanquishing Ocular Curated by David Salle and Nicole Wittenberg,
Rental Gallery, East Hampton, USA
Tabula Rasa: The 26th Annual Watermill Center Summer Benefit and Auction, The Watermill Center, Watermill, USA
100 Sculptures, Von Ammon Co and Anonymous gallery, Paris, France
Chromatic Reveries, Nars Foundation, New York, USA
Signs Foretelling, Rata Projects, New York, USA
Classic Nouveau, Latchkey Gallery, New York, USA
Independent Art Book Fair, 307 Kent Avenue, New York, USA
10 years / 100 Sculptures, Anonymous Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
01: Never Mind The Bollocks, Latchkey Gallery, New York, USA
Pleasure Over Matter, Private Collection, San Francisco, USA
Meet Us At The Dumpster Fire, That That Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
Ways to Die, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Brooklyn, New York, USA
2017 Close, But Not Touching, Biggercode Gallery, New York, USA
Only With the Heart Can One See Rightly, FiveMyles, New York, USA
ATM-Cigarettes-Flowers-Lottery God Bless Deli, Wayfarers Gallery and Space
Heater Gallery, New York, USA
Sea Change, Miranda Kuo Gallery, New York, USA
Shed, Christies Fine Art Services Storage, Christies Summer Preview, Red
Hook, New York, USA
Art Athina with Club Pro LA and The Institute for New Feeling, Tae kwon Do Pavillion, Athens, Greece
(=Everything is Perfect Here), Spring/Break Art Fair, New York, USA
2016 Palma, Palmiers, Palm, Dickinson Roundell, New York, USA
Summer Group Show of New York Artists, Coburn Projects, London, UK
On Ishton's Porch, Hou Yee Chan Gallery, Los Angeles, USA
2015 Scent,Dickinson Roundell, New York, USA
The Gruin Transfer, Solomon Arts Gallery, New York, USA
Strangers Forming a group waiting to Kiss, Motel Gallery New York, USA
2013 It's Juice is a Medicine for the Eyes, What it Is Gallery, Chicago, USA
2012 The New Americana, New Capital Projects, Chicago, USA
Screens, 41 Cooper Gallery, New York, USA
2011 End of Story, 41 Cooper Gallery, New York, USA
Residencies
2016 Beirut Art Residency Program, Beirut Art Residency, Beirut, Lebanon
