Born in 1963 in Perth, Scotland, Derrick Guild received a BA degree and his Post Graduate Diploma from Duncan of Jordanston College of Art and Design, Dundee.
His paintings and objects reference European still life of the 15th to the 19th centuries. The drama, allegory, and naturalism inherent in this period speak of dilemmas in the human condition. By juxtaposing objects or presenting them individually, Guild is referencing ideas of love, loss, religion, beauty, geo-politics, colonialism, humor, longing, death, absurdity, and decay. His works are classical, formal, and at the same time contemporary in their sense of dislocation and ambiguity.
Guild has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in Europe and the United States, including the following solo shows: “Sense is Hard” at the Pier Arts Centre, Stromness. Orkney, 1999; “Picnic Hamper for Heaven” at Perth Museum, Scotland, 2007; and “Bread Paintings,” 2000 and “Pre-Ascension,” 2007 at the Allan Stone Gallery, New York.
Group shows include “Food for Thought,” 1999 at the New Jersey Centre for the Visual Arts; “Blind Sight” at the Titanic Gallery, Turku, Finland, and “Guilding the Summertown,” 2005, at RSA Projects, Edinburgh, Scotland.
He has been the recipient of many awards, including the Maude Gemmell Hutchison Award RSA, the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award, and the Villiers David Foundation Award.
Having taught at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, University of Dundee since 1992, Guild is currently residing and working on the Island of Ascension in the South Atlantic.
Group Exhibitions