Explore – Artist: One to watch
ARTIST DAN PROOPS REVEALS HOW ROCK STAR LOU REED NEARLY ENDED HIS CAREER AGED 14 AND HOW COMPUTERS REVOLUTIONISED HIS LIFE Are you from an artistic family? I’m the only artist, but my mum was in the Royal Ballet, my dad was in advertising and my grandmother Marjorie Proops was the Daily Mirror’s agony aunt. [...]
ARTIST DAN PROOPS REVEALS HOW ROCK STAR LOU REED NEARLY ENDED HIS CAREER AGED 14 AND HOW COMPUTERS REVOLUTIONISED HIS LIFE
Are you from an artistic family? I’m the only artist, but my mum was in the Royal Ballet, my dad was in advertising and my grandmother Marjorie Proops was the Daily Mirror’s agony aunt. So they were an inspiring mix.
How did you get started? I sold my first work when I was 12 for £15, but at 14 I had a huge argument with my father about wanting to hold my own exhibition. He thought I was far too young and that was just a red rag to me. I stormed down the Kings Road in London carrying five of my paintings, wandered into the Chenil Gallery and said: "Hi, I’m the best. Do you do exhibitions?"
What happened? They put on one-man shows of my work a couple of times, both of which were sell-outs. I received loads of publicity, went on radio shows it was just brilliant. Then I discovered Lou Reed. I thought he was so cool and he never gave interviews. So I stopped speaking to the press I even turned down the opportunity of going on Blue Peter. Not a good move.
What did you do next? I finished school and went to Goldsmiths College in London to study Fine Art & History of Art. I was the last man standing on my course though, as everyone abandoned painting for the new fad, Conceptual Art. That’s art which focuses more on the planning than the technical application.
How did people react to your work? I remember walking into the private members’ club the Groucho with some paintings under my arm and
BRUSHSTROKES: DAN’S CV
Dan Proops, 35, won an art scholarship to Marlborough College, Wiltshire at 13. After leaving Goldsmiths College in 1990, he spent the next 10 years exhibiting in over 20 group and solo shows in London. In 2003, Eric Franck an influential European dealer started to buy and promote his work. Proops exhibited at London Art Fair in the same year, but his breakthrough came with his solo show Sam’s Desktop in 2006, which he followed up this year with Sam’s Desktop II. His next exhibition is at the Menier Chocolate Factory, London, from 24-29 September; www.myspace.com/danproops
Damien Hirst looked at me as if I was bit odd. It just wasn’t the done thing. How did you find success? I believed in myself and stuck at it. I held exhibitions in Cork Street and The Serpentine Gallery in London and then five years ago I had a "Eureka!" moment. I realised that the computer was the biggest revolution we had in years and that other artists weren’t looking at it. I went into my studio, put all my works aside and started to paint images influenced by the internet and computer icons. My friends thought I was having a breakdown, but it was actually the beginning of my new style. How would you describe it? It’s traditional art seen through a modern lens. Frankly, Conceptualism is dead. Now it’s all about painting and branding. Do you paint quickly? I paint three brushstrokes a second, so in about seven hours I’ll have done 100,000 don’t ask me how I know that! So, a painting will be completed in about two weeks, but it takes me between three to six months to plan it. If you had any advice for aspiring artists, what would it be? Get your mum to pretend to be your publicist and phone up all the art galleries to sell your work. It’s a war out there.
