Denzil Forrester was born in Grenada, WI and moved to London in 1967. He obtained a BA from London's Central School of Art, followed by an MA at the Royal College of Art. In 1983 he was awarded the Rome Scholarship, and this was followed by the Harkness Scholarship which took him to New York for eighteen months. In 1987 he was the winner of the Korn/Ferry International Award for work of exceptional merit. He was awarded a touring exhibition by the Harris Museum & Art Gallery in 1991, and in 2000 he won the Scottish Gallery Dianna King Prize for a painting in any medium.

Forrester's paintings of London's reggae club scene and police brutality have been exhibited at Tate Britain and White Columns in New York.

Until he moved to Cornwall in 2016, London's urban life was Forrester's main source of inspiration. His paintings are rich, complex and highly sophisticated and have been exhibited extensively in London over the past 40 years. His work is held in public and private collections in the UK and USA.