Daniel Preece b. 1970

Daniel Preece is a painter whose work centres on the urban landscape, shaped by his early experiences growing up in southwest London among gasometers and tower blocks. His practice developed from a pictorial landscape tradition rooted in direct observation, drawing on influences such as the Euston Road School, the industrial typologies of Bernd and Hilla Becher, and the atmospheric compositions of Edward Hopper.

Preece’s recent paintings explore the city through elevated and oblique viewpoints, creating images that exist between abstraction and figuration. Working often from photographs taken in low light, he balances a distinctive, personal colour palette with a convincing sense of space and structure, inviting viewers to project their own experiences into the scenes.

A renewed engagement with drawing from observation has introduced a more conceptual dimension to his work. He is particularly interested in uncovering moments of quiet beauty within the banal and highlighting the unexpected juxtapositions that define contemporary urban life. By bringing together diverse pictorial influences, Preece constructs cohesive painted surfaces that reflect both the complexity and vitality of the city.