GRAEME WILCOX Frank Oil on canvas 20 x 20 inches (frontcover)
PAUL WRIGHT Bulldog Oil on canvas 28 x 24 inches (back cover)
15 New Cavendish St, London, W1G 9UB Tel: +44 (0)207 935 3595 Email: enquiries@thompsonsgallery.co.uk 175 High Street, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. IP15 5AN Tel: +44 (0)1728 453 743
Email: john@thompsonsgallery.co.uk
www.thompsonsgallery.co.uk Portrait show jacket.indd 2-3
THE CONTEMPORARY
PORTRAIT
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JON BARRETT Self Portrait (In Broken Mirror) Oil on canvas 18 x 30 inches
THE CONTEMPORARY
PORTRAIT 15th October - 1st November 2015
15 New Cavendish St London, W1G 9UB Tel: +44 (0)207 935 3595 Email: enquiries@thompsonsgallery.co.uk www.thompsonsgallery.co.uk
Private View: Wednesday 14th October, 6 - 8pm RSVP to enquiries@thompsonsgallery.co.uk The complete exhibition can be viewed online at
www.thompsonsgallery.co.uk
Monday to Friday: 10:00 - 18:00 Saturday: 10:30 - 17:30 Sunday: Closed
All paintings are for sale upon receipt of the catalogue. 1
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ALDO BALDING THOMPSON’S GALLERY are proud to announce The Contemporary Portrait, an exhibition of the most promising artists working within portraiture today. Through a mixture of established and emergent talent, this exhibition explores a vast variety of approaches to an age-old practice. The wide range of media spans from the captivating detail of hyperrealism to the emotive brushstrokes of neo-expressionism.
Jon Barrett (page 1) was born in Oxford and studied Fine Art at The Arts University Bournemouth. Living in Maidenhead, bordering Stanley Spencer’s Cookham, he had a brief career as a sign-maker before working for Thompson’s Galleries where he continues to be part of their team. He now turns his efforts to the other side of the gallery where his paintings illustrate a technique that encompasses both representational and abstract modes of picture making. Incorporating an aesthetic of broken imagery, his paintings exploit an accumulation of lost content whilst remaining representational. JON BARRETT Self Portrait (In Broken Mirror) Oil on canvas 18 x 30 inches (see page 1)
Aldo Balding was born and raised in the United Kingdom and currently lives in the South of France. He started off his career as an illustrator before moving to France to become a full-time artist. His works often depict figures in open-ended narratives, allowing the viewer to construct the story for themselves. Balding has exhibited his work in the BP Portrait Show, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and taken first prize in the NSE Exhibition (2003) and Artist International (2002). Balding is represented by a number of galleries around the world, such as the United Kingdom, United States of America, France and South Africa. ALDO BALDING Alban Trilogy Oil on canvas 39 x 39 inches (right)
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HENRIETTA GRAHAM
HENRIETTA GRAHAM
Dan Doherty at Duck and Waffle Oil on canvas 29 x 40 inches
Henrietta Graham trained at Parsons School of Art in Paris and The Thomas Heatherly School of Fine Art in London and has been successfully exhibiting and selling internationally for the past 25 years. A well-established portrait artist, her depiction of James Martin was featured at the National Gallery for the BP Portrait Award. She has also worked extensively with Gordon Ramsay and other notable figures of the British culinary renaissance, with paintings gracing the walls and menus of establishments such as the Ramsay’s flagship restaurant on Royal Hospital Road.
HENRIETTA GRAHAM
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Atul Kochar at Benares Oil on canvas 40 x 29 inches
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PAUL WRIGHT
EDWARD HASLAM Paul Wright has spent the last decade developing a language of painting through which he seeks to capture a vitality beyond the establishment of a mere ‘likeness’ to the subject. As an artist, Paul Wright appreciates the importance of the individual being recognisable, the subjects are glimpsed in the painting rather than exposed, their inner selves hinted at but ultimately inscrutable. Wright was born in Leicester and completed his foundational studies at Loughborough College of Art and Design. He then went to complete a four-year degree at the Falmouth School of Art. He has twice been shortlisted in the BP Portrait Award, most recently in 2014’. He has exhibited all over Europe and the Americas, and has works in collections including Prudential, Standard Chartered Bank, Accenture and Smith & Williams..
EDWARD HASLAM
Self portrait Oil 47 x 31 inches
London based artist Ed Haslam holds a degree in History of Art from the University of Manchester. In 2012 Haslam took part in the Free Painters and Sculptors exhibition at La Galleria Pall Mall and in 2013 he exhibited with the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and twice with Thompson’s Gallery in the Annual and Group Exhibitions. Haslam’s style is influenced by the legacies of Francis Bacon and Lucien Freud. His works seek to express the disconnection between the physical reality of life and the heightened reality PAUL WRIGHT
of human experience.
The Walker Oil on canvas 25 x 24 inches
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GRAEME WILCOX
ALLAN RAMSAY Scottish painter Allan Ramsay trained at Glasgow School of Art and Art Student’s League in New York. He won first prize in the John Player Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery in 1988. Since then, Ramsay has shown regularly with the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters at Mall Galleries. Ramsay’s work is widely collected by major institutions such as the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, The National Portrait Gallery, and the City of Edinburgh.
Graeme Wilcox graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1993 with honours in Fine Art. Since his training Wilcox has gone on to work in WASPS studios in Glasgow’s East End, exhibiting regularly in London and throughout the UK. Recent larger works depict people travelling through half-remembered spaces, situations and scenes both real and imagined, communicating what the artist calls ‘an attempt to balance asense of movement with a sense of stillness’. Lately Wilcox has undertaken two large portrait commissions, these renewing
GRAEME WILCOX The Diplomat
his interest in portraiture and leading to an
Oil on canvas
ongoing series of friends and acquaintances.
26 x 30 inches
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ALLAN RAMSAY
Study for a Portrait Oil on canvas 16 x 12 inches
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LUCA INDRACCOLO
NIGGY DOWLER Luca Indraccolo left his birthplace of Naples, Italy to begin a career in advertising. This 15-year pursuit took him from Germany to New York, and eventually to London. He gave up a position as creative director for Saatchi & Saatchi London to embark upon a new path in painting. Having started his artistic training in New York, Indraccolo moved first to Florence and then London to develop his painting ability. Now a full time artist, Indraccolo exhibits widely across London, with Mall Galleries’ Royal Society of Oil Painters, Bankside, T5 Gallery, and Netil 000.
NIGGY DOWLER Regrets Oil on canvas 18 x 18 inches
NIGGY DOWLER Regold Oil on canvas 18 x 14 inches
Nicolette (Niggy) Dowler brings a fresh, immediate approach to her work, being self-taught with occasional spells in Florence. Her time in Italy inspired an interest in classical representation, tied in with notes of surrealism. Dowler has recently emerged as a painter, seeing success in Affordable Art Fairs at Bristol, Hampstead and Battersea, as well as executing a constant flow of portrait commissions.
LUCA INDRACCOLO Ella Oil on canvas 18 x 13 inches
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JENNIFER ANDERSON
ALAN COULSON
Alan Coulson was born in Leeds in 1977, and currently lives and works in West Yorkshire. He specialises in portraiture and exhibits regularly in London, most notably at the annual exhibitions of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and the prestigious BP Portrait Award at the National Gallery. Coulson
has
produced
commissioned
work for clients including New York Times Magazine, The Sunday Times, Carlton Books, The Chronicle Review and Club Wembley. He also has works in private collections worldwide and is represented by Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts NY. JENNIFER ANDERSON
Cherished Oil on copper 8 x 8 inches
JENNIFER ANDERSON
The Waiting Game Oil on copper 16 x 12 inches
Jennifer Anderson was born in Glasgow and grew up just outside the city in rural Stirlingshire. She attended Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee, graduating in 1997 with a first class honours degree in fine art painting at the age of 21. Since then she has returned to Glasgow and continues to live and work in the city’s West End. She has exhibited widely throughout the UK and has also shown work internationally in New York, Singapore, Zurich and Toronto. Anderson is regularly selected for the BP Portrait Award and has also been invited to exhibit in the main collection at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
ALAN COULSON Janis Oil on wood 40 x 28 inches
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STEPHANIE REW
CAROL PEACE
STEPHANIE REW Rapture Oil on canvas 22 x 18 inches
STEPHANIE REW The Silver Crane II Oil on canvas 39 x 16 inches (right)
CAROL PEACE Self Portrait Looking Forward Oil on paper 9 x 11 inches
Scottish Artist Stephanie Rew studied at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art Carol Peace, British sculptor and painter, was born in April 1970. She graduated with Honors in Fine Art Sculpture
from 1990-1994. Exhibiting and gallery work took Rew from home in Brighton, to
from Winchester School of Art in 1992. Peace has also studied at the Prince’s Drawing School (2001-2002), after
London, finally settling back in Edinburgh in 2002. She now lives with her husband
which she co-founded the Bristol Drawing School in 2007. In 2011 Peace became a Patron of the RWA, Bristol’s
and two children in the Leith Shore area, painting full time. Stephanie’s interest in
first art gallery. Shortly after she completed a 6-month SF residency in Barcelona, Spain. Peace continues to
the discipline and drama of dance are reflected in her compelling rendering of the
create from her studio in Bristol, with many commissions for large-scale projects.
dancer’s form, often draped in stage costume.
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ELAINE SPEIRS
CARL MELEGARI Elaine Spiers was born in Johannesburg and moved to the West Coast of Scotland as a young child. She studied at Edinburgh College of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art in London. She returned to South Africa in 2006 and then came back home in 2009 with her three daughters. Over the last four years Elaine has re-established herself as a painter. She regularly exhibits at the RSA, with VAS and the SSA. Recently she exhibited at the Mall Galleries in London. Awards have included the Glasgow Club Award (2012), the Caron Keating Memorial Award, Mall Galleries, London. She was shortlisted for the National Open Art Competition and the Threadneedle Painting Prize (2014).
ELAINE SPEIRS Lost Sleep Oil and acrylic on board 36 x 30 inches
Carl Melegari was born to Italian parentage in North Wales. His contemporary approach to painting explores both the human form and urban landscape. Melegari’s works are rich in palette and texture, as the artist draws from the colourist style of Morandi and the sculptural influence of Manuel Neri. Melegari has exhibited in Bristol with the Royal West of England Academy, Le Salon des Nations in Paris, and in Italy at Mostra di Pittura di San Bonifacio. He has also gained great recognition from exposure in art fairs such as London Art Fair and Art Toronto.
CARL MELEGARI
Babajide Oil on canvas 39 x 31 inches
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KEMI ONABULE
CHRIS STEVENS Chris Stevens graduated from the University of Reading with a Fine Art degree in 1978, after which he went on to become an established figurative painter exhibiting regularly in London and further afield. He has been a prize winner in the BP Portrait Award, 50 Over 50, and the recent Painted Faces exhibition organised by the Saatchi Gallery. Stevens has enjoyed residencies at Sunderland Football Club and Birmingham International Airport, as well as working with institutions including the Victoria
&
Albert
Museum,
The National Gallery of Wales, Unilever,
Galerija
Portreta,
Bosnia & Herzegovina, and many private collections in the UK, KEMI ONABULE Dad Oil on canvas 22 x 18 inches
South Africa, USA and Europe.
Kemi Onabule is a 20-year-old British artist of Nigerian and Greek descent. Home-educated until the age of 11, her artistic abilities were allowed to grow in a non-institutional setting. Kemi first captured our attention at the 2014 Sky Portrait Award as the youngest artist in the pool of selected talent. Onabule specialises in oil portraiture centred on singular portraits of family and friends. She is currently completing her second year of training at the Wimbledon College of Art. 18
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CHRIS STEVENS Herbert Oil on canvas 20 x 16 inches
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RICHARD TWOSE
After taking second prize in the BP Portrait Award at the National Gallery in 2014, Richard Twose became a full-time artist. Since then he has been part of numerous gallery shows and undertaken commissions, and given interviews with CNN’s ‘One To Watch’ programme. Twose has exhibited widely across the UK, showing in ‘20/21’ at the Royal College of Art, the 2014 BP Portrait Award, View Gallery in Bristol, and Affordable Art Fair Hampstead and Battersea.
RICHARD TWOSE Balance Oil on canvas 51 x 28 inches RICHARD TWOSE Nell and a Goose Oil on canvas 22 x 18 inches (right)
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SELENA MOWAT
SARAH JANE MOON New Zealand national Sarah Jane Moon has lived in Japan, Malaysia, Australia and the UK working in education and the arts. She first caught our eye in an exhibition of celebrated portrait painters at the Mall Galleries. Specialising in portraiture and figurative painting, Moon has garnered honours such as the Bulldog Bursary of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters, the New English Art Club Charitable Trust Award and an RP commendation for her painting ability. Moon is currently working both on commissions and her own projects, as well as producing a book that will profile leading contemporary portrait painters in Britain.Â
SELENA MOWAT
Self Portrait Oil on wood 10 x 12 inches
Selena Mowat was born in the Scottish Highlands in 1977 to a Malaysian mother and Scottish father. She studied Fine Arts at the University of Dundee, Scotland, afterward teaching drawing and painting there for six years. Mowat has won many honours including the Irish Portrait of the Year and Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, both in 2013. Today she lives and works in Rudolstadt, exhibiting internationally and with projects in the UK, Italy and France. 22
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Sarah Jane Moon Tigana + Egle Oil on canvas 40 x 62 inches
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ROBIN PUPLETT
ROBIN PUPLETT
ROBIN PUPLETT
Butcher Oil on canvas 32 x 32 inches
Boat Builder Oil on canvas 32 x 32 inches
Robin Puplett has been painting since childhood but only in the last few years has he turned his lifelong passion into a full-time career as an artist. Educated in both fine art and graphic design, his preferred medium is acrylic on canvas. Although originally from London, Puplett has spent many years abroad and now lives and works in North Yorkshire with his wife and two children. Robin’s work is inspired by his local surroundings and the people he encounters, exploring modes of composition, mood and storytelling.
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