Birmingham Open Studios 2025 - Artist Spotlight - Art by Dev
This is the final spotlight in our series featuring the nine artists we’re welcoming into our space for Birmingham Open Studios 2025. Each one has brought their own vibrancy, craft, and creative POV, and Dev closes the series with quiet power and bold presence.
Dev didn’t set out to be an artist. It started five years ago, mid-pandemic, when the world felt like it had been put on pause and our brains were quietly fraying at the edges. Remember? Yes, us too! Like many of us, he reached for something, anything , to soften the static. A simple paint-by-numbers kit became his way of making sense of the weirdness of lockdown life.
What began as a quiet distraction turned into something far more electric. Fluid art gave him a way to let go, to let flow, and to let emotion take shape. It wasn’t about being good. It was about being honest and doing the thing. The thing that helped and most importantly about making something that felt like him, messy, instinctive, and full of feeling.
That shift deepened through HUMEN, a men’s wellness group Dev is a part of, where open conversations around mental health weren’t just encouraged, they were essential. One man’s story about using art to cope cracked something open for Dev. It was proof that creativity could be more than catharsis. It could be connection. Dev says “They say ‘putting pen to paper’ is good for the mind but so is ‘putting paint on canvas’ in my mind.”
The importance of talking about mental health isn’t a theme in Dev’s work. It’s the undercurrent. The reason. The rhythm. His paintings are shaped by music, memory, and the quiet work of healing. Dev paints to music, classical, chart hits, Hindi bangers, dance tracks, whatever hits the emotional nerve. The rhythm guides the palette. The mood shapes the movement.
Nature plays backup vocals. Dog walks, quiet green spaces, unexpected wildlife encounters, they all feed into the layered colour and emotional tone of his work. It’s art that reflects back the world, but through a lens that’s deeply personal for Dev.
Every canvas is tuned to whatever’s humming beneath the surface, emotion, memory, noise. It’s not about polish or perfection. It’s about presence.“Each canvas is a conversation,” Dev says. “And my hope is that it speaks to something true in you.”
Catch Art by Dev at Seventh Circle
Weekend One only: Saturday, Sept 20 & Sunday, Sept 21
Seventh Circle Gallery, Digbeth
Why You Absolutely Must Be Here!
• Emotionally driven fluid art with bold colour and instinctive movement
• A chance to meet the artist and hear the story behind the work
• A space that invites reflection, connection, and conversation
Stay in the Loop
This is the final spotlight in our series featuring the nine incredible artists we’re lending our space to for Birmingham Open Studios 2025. Each one brings their own voice, vision, and emotional truth and Dev closes the series beautifully.
Sign up to our mailing list for artist features, event news, and gallery updates. No spam. Simply gorgeous stuff straight to your inbox.
