Artist statement
Concepts
The paintings exist on a ground between potentially recognisable image and paint as an independent, physical force. I hope that the paintings feel inevitable, a result of chance/intent, that they convey a sense of the body/skin where there are rubbed back areas, movement, indefinable space but one which acknowledges the artifice in the activity. I am often very aware of the unending space above our heads and this is somehow compounded by working in (favoured) basement studios. Recent developments in the paintings have been affected by the new drawings so more graphic marks are appearing, also collage occasionally.
The drawings (more will follow on this site) have been made on canvas and also on paper and are very graphic in comparison. Where the paintings suggest a possible sense of the body (internal and external) and flesh and atmospheric space the drawings suggest layers and planes of space impacting on each other; mappings, geographic urban demarcations, pools, symbols, flags, shadows, cooling towers; fears both physical and psychological hover over peaceful vistas.
Collections
Arts Council of England, Collection
Israel Phoenix Assurance, Tel Aviv, Israel
Barclays Capital, Dubai
Arthur Anderson, London
Fitzwilliam Museum (on loan to Clare College)
L G Collection, London
Meyer Brown, London
Qualifications and training
- 1984 MA Hons, Fine Art, Painting, Chelsea School of Art
- 1983 BA Hons, Fine Art, Painting, Winchester School of Art
- 1980 Foundation Course, Fine Art, Falmouth School of Art
Solo exhibitions
- 2000 Paintings from 1995-2000, Gallery Fine, London
- 2000 Virginia Verran : Paintings 1995-2000, Gallery Fine, London
- 1999 Virginia Verran: Ten year retrospective, Henie-Onstad Kunstsentre, Oslo, Norway
- 1997 New Paintings, Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall
- 1995 New Paintings, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
- 1993 New Paintings, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
- 1990 New Work, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
- 1988 New Paintings, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
Group exhibitions
- 2012 Marmite Painting Exhibition, Opens at Central Art Gallery Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester then on tour..ending in London June 2013
- 2012 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London
- 2012 Collectible, ZAP : Zeitgeist Art Projects, New Cross, London
- 2012 Equinox, Transition Gallery, London
- 2012 Anschlussel: Artists from London and Berlin, C4RD, London
- 2011 Anschlussel London/Berlin, Fruehsorge Contemporary Drawings, Berlin
- 2011 Pulp Fictions, Transition Gallery, London
- 2011 A World of Drawings (Lia Anna Hennig, Felicity Powell, Virginia Verran, Alexia Goethe Galery, London
- 2011 Energetic Japan, Nika Gallery, Japan
- 2011 The Drawing Room Biennial Auction, The Drawing Room, London
- 2010 Jerwood Drawing Prize Ist Prize Winner, Jerwood Space, London (more info)
- 2010 Jerwood Drawing Prize (1st Prize Winner) selected by Jenni Lomax, Charles Darwent, Emma Talbot, Jerwood Space, London
- 2010 Drawings by Wendy Anderson, Fieroza Doorsen, Virginia Verran, Eagle Gallery, 159 Farringdon Rd, EC1R 3AL
- 2010 Drawings at the Eagle Gallery, Eagle Gallery 159, Farringdon Rd, EC1R 3AL, London (more info)
- 2010 'The Pressures of Space', Sarah Myerscough Gallery, London
- 2009 Jerwood Drawing Prize selected by Roger Malbert, Tania Kovats, Nicholas Usherwood, Jerwood Drawing Space and tour around country through 2010, London, Cardiff, Aberdeen, Cambridge, Devon, Cheltenham
- 2009 A21 International, Kobei, Japan
- 2008 'Timescapes', BADept, Blackpool
- 2008 'Same As it Ever Was' curated by Clyde Hopkins (survey of fine art tutors and selected graduates, Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
- 2007 Virginia Verran and David Oates, Redchurch Gallery, Shoreditch
- 2007 Drawing Show, Artonomy Fine Art, Truro, Cornwall
- 2005 'Short Stories About Painting', Artspace Gallery, Islington
- 2005 'Short Stories About Painting', Artspace Gallery, Islington
- 2003 'A21 International', Contemporary Art Space, Osaka, Japan
- 2001 'British Abstract Art', Flowers East, London
- 1998 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
- 1997 John Moores Liverpool Exhibition 20, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
- 1996 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
- 1996 In-Transit, Some Contemporary British Art, Leiden Holland and Osnabruck, Germany
- 1994 Gallery Artists, Paintings & works on paper from stock, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
- 1994 Whitechapel Open, Whitechapel Art Gallery
- 1994 Gallery Artists - Paintings and Works on Paper, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
- 1992 Five Year: Works on Paper, Francis Graham-Dixon Gallery
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2012 Marmite Painting Prize, Opens at Central Art Gallery Ashton-Under-Lyne, Manchester
- 2010 Jerwood Drawing Prize (1st Prize Winner) selected by Jenni Lomax, Charles Darwent and Emma Talbot, Jerwood Space, London
- 2009 Jerwood Drawing Prize 2009,selected by Roger Malbert, Tania Kovats, Nicholas Usherwood, Jerwood Space, London
Educational experience - tertiary
- 1993 Part-time Lecturer, Fine Art Department, Newcastle University
- 1990 Associate Lecturer (current), Fine Art Department, Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall
- 1988 Part-time Lecturer, Painting Department, Hull Polytechnic
- 1986 Part-time Lecturer (current) Painting Department, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
Personal website
