NO! 1968 - a year marked by protest, resistance and the refusal of established power
Born in Belfast in 1966, Dameon Priestly grew up during the Troubles, an experience that continues to shape his work. He studied fashion and textiles at the University of Ulster, graduating with honours, and worked in the fashion Industry before turning his attention to fine art in the 1990s. He has since developed a practice spanning painting, drawing and collage, often exploring social injustice, cultural movements and the lives of people often overlooked by history. His subjects also include artists, performers and political figures whose stories challenge familiar versions of cultural history. Dameon has exhibited in solo and group shows since 1999. His work has reached an international audience, including American film director Spike Lee, and he was chosen to create sleeve artwork for three Van Morrison albums. He lives and works in Kent. His latest exhibition took place in November 2026 at the 67 York Street Gallery in Londons Marylebone.
1968 was a year of protest and defiance. In NO! 1968, Dameon revisits its political and visual language through collage and paint, combining cropped images with words such as DEMOCRACY, LIBERTÉ and ONE MAN ONE VOTE.
The year is also part of Priestly’s family history, his grandfather joined Belfast’s People’s Democracy march, while his parents and extended family took part in civil rights marches and protests against the Vietnam War. The exhibition series considers the gap between political ideals and lived experience, and asks how history is remembered. Its events belong to 1968, its questions remain for all of us today. He often works in series that combine personal memory together with meticulous indepth research. One such series on display this time was Tripwire Timeline: 1970–1988 (A Belfast Tale) an autobiographical series, he reflects on his childhood and growing up in Belfast during the Troubles. The works follow his life from the age of four to twenty two, drawing on personal memories, childhood diaries and extensive research into the conflict.
The collection spans twelve collages, each focused on a particular year, and ten paintings that distil an event or memory into its concentrated essence. Dameon also includes song lyrics from the years, weaving fragments of popular culture into the personal and historical visual record.The works are deeply personal, but invite viewers in through familiar songs and the candid, sometimes naive voice of a child’s diary. That sense of comfort gives way to a sharper awareness that all is not well in the picture or the story. Through this shifting effective strategy it makes the experience even more visceral. Dameon offers a first-person account of growing up amid uncertainty and upheaval, while making the necessary space for viewers to connect through their own memories and responses.
ⓒ2026 Dameon Priestly ⓒ2026Graeme Webb
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