Artist Danny Fox on his new book, A Cut Above The Eye

“The same old shite, really” is artist Danny Fox’s response when asked about what he’s been up to since we last spoke. This, of course, isn’t quite true. Danny’s modesty stops him from mentioning his latest book Danny Fox: A Cut Above The Eye, which was published by Copenhagen’s V1 Gallery only a couple of months ago. The publication documents the Los Angeles-based painter’s artworks from the past seven years and traces his creative evolution between the years 2011 and 2018. But this impressive feat doesn’t subtract from Danny’s good-humoured self-reflections: “I was living the high life for a bit, had a house up on the hill and it was very nice. It had fruit trees in the yard and you could smell the lemons in the morning. I’ve moved back into the studio now, Los Angeles street. Hell.”

Danny’s work is expressive, it’s vibrant and perceptive. Whether it’s a still life or a portrait, Danny’s paintings display an insightful quality as he excavates the essence of his subject matter. This sensitivity, Danny believes, is largely down to the extensive amount of reading he did as a kid. “I’ve said so many times that books were the best way for me to learn about art and discover artists back in darkest pre-internet Cornwall,” the artist tells It’s Nice That. “I treasure my books like no other belongings except my gold, but even that is destined for scrap or sale at some point.” In addition to presenting Danny’s latest works of art, A Cut Above The Eye also includes essays by fellow artists Henry Taylor and Rose Wylie.

The vibrant, electric works featured in A Cut Above The Eye are mostly those that have either hung in a gallery or been sold. These, Danny says, tend to be the ones that have been properly photographed, and offer the book a coherent structure that divides each chapter into exhibitions. “I’m very aware of these chapters as they happen in my life and work. I constantly find myself looking back to the last painting and asking it where I go next,” Danny says. “Part of the will to create the book was to draw a line under a period of time, which it has definitely helped to do. Everything I’ve made since has felt like it’s part of a new chapter.” With a constant stream of exhibition line-ups, including shows at Sotheby’s Gallery or Saatchi Gallery, Danny has spent the past few years on transatlantic flights in order to keep up with the popularity of his art.

What does the future hold, then? Even Danny can’t answer that: “Expect the worse, hope for the best,” he says. Yet, with his impressive portfolio of dynamic, iconoclastic work, it’s difficult not to get excited about his future prospects.