Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023 Selection

My two paintings: ‘Push Button And Wait’ and ‘No Stopping’ have been selected for the Royal Academy of Art’s Summer Exhibition 2023, helmed by David Remfry RA.

The proud parent posed with his offspring! Selected by Eileen Cooper RA for her Room IX.

I did these pieces in the first lockdown and since then they’ve been on the wall of my studio. Really glad they’re going to be seen by a larger audience than just me! ‘No Stopping’ and ‘Push Button And Wait’.

David Remfry was one of the judges for the ING Discerning Eye Exhibition in 2020, that I was also in, and ultimately chose my painting ‘Check Your Travel’ as the winner of the inaugural Cityscape Prize.

This year saw 11,204 entries from the public with 998 artists making the cut and 1,613 artworks featuring in the exhibition.

You can watch a nice tour of the show here. It’s effectively a walk around after everyone has gone home. Can you spot my paintings? They are there, I assure you.

The back of my head admiring the wall of work I was featured on (bottom left). Photo: Sam Mortimer

 

SFSA 2023 Drawing Open Exhibition

My 2023 drawing Junction will be making its first appearance in public on 4th May 2023. You can see it as part of the Second Floor Studios & Artists (SFSA)’s 2023 Drawing Open exhibition at the 'no format Gallery'.

Junction. 2023. Pencil crayon, acrylic on gessoed wood panel. 20.8cm x 29.4cm

The show features the work of 100 artists and is a celebration of drawing on a small scale. All works are available to buy.

Open preview night: Thursday 4th May 18:00 - 20:30

Opening times: Friday 5th, Saturday 6th, Sunday 7th & Wednesday 10th, Thursday 11th, Friday 12th May 13:00 - 18:00

Studio NF01, Casting House, Moulding Lane (off Arklow Road), Deptford, London SE14 6BN. 8 minutes walk from New Cross station.

Jackson's Painting Prize 2023

My painting ‘Pause (II)’ has made the longlist for the Jackson’s Painting Prize 2023 competition.

Pause (II). 2022. A recent painting. Acrylic on wood panel. 30.4cm x 30.4cm. A response to experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The competition organisers said:

This year's competition saw a record 11,225 entries, 452 of which have been longlisted. We want to extend a huge thank you to all of the artists who entered the competition this year, we appreciate how much effort goes into every submission. We continue to be amazed by the talent year on year. The shortlist will be announced on the 30th of March. View the longlist and vote for your favourite artworks to win the People's Choice Award here. By voting, you will automatically be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a £150 Jackson's Gift Voucher.

Voting for the People’s Choice Award ends on 6th of April and you if just want to vote for me the direct link to my painting is here. You do have to register but hopefully that won’t take too long. Thanks!

East Bridge House (Turn Left) - the story

My painting ‘East Bridge House (Turn Left)’ started off as an artwork inspired by a dramatic urban view. As I learnt more about the location, I discovered a story hidden beneath the Croydon tarmac.

East Bridge House (Turn Left). 2021. Acrylic on wood panel. 61cm x 61cm.

The painting was inspired by a view from the Croydon tower block known by many different names, including The 50p Building, No.1 Croydon, The Thrupenny Bit Building and the NLA Tower. The area shown in the painting was originally the site of an old building called East Bridge House (and this gave me the title for the work). The owners refused to sell up when the modern block was proposed, but the tower was constructed looming above them anyway. Eventually, East Bridge House fell empty and was demolished.

Writer John Grindrod says:

In the heart of suburban Surrey sits the NLA Tower, now known as No.1 Croydon. It was designed, like hundreds of others, in Seifert’s vast draughtsmans’ office. In the original 1964 plans it was set to be, in the fashion of the day, a tower sat atop a podium. But when it came to construction things didn’t turn out quite that straightforward. East Bridge House, a solicitor’s office, sat on part of the site that the podium block was due to occupy, and the owner wasn’t willing to move. Lengthy legal wrangling ensued, but in the end construction had to start without a resolution, and so the podium was scrapped. Instead the NLA Tower became a free-standing block, albeit nestling next to East Bridge House. The tower emerges from the rough concrete volcano-mouth of an underground car park, like a Thunderbirds rocket caught mid-launch. East Bridge House, that pesky neighbour, was finally demolished in 1973, three years after construction had finished, and at last the tower could shrug off accusations that it was yet another suburban semi.

Quote taken from ‘NLA Tower, Croydon’ by John Grindrod published on the Twentieth Century Society website, November 2014. www.c20society.org.uk

With the help of Twitter, Turf Projects and the Museum of Croydon, I’ve managed to find some photos of plucky little East Bridge House.

From a painter’s point of view, I began working on this using just black, greys and white acrylic paint, with a plan to add colours and coloured glazes later on.

I masked off the ‘islands’ of grass and pavement, leaving me the tarmac areas free to spray with paint from brushes (and toothbrushes) to give it a gravelly texture.

Stage one of adding colour glazes. I’ve painted the shadows first, with the objects casting them still to come on top later.

Prints of the finished painting can be purchased via my Etsy store here.