My paintings explore a weakened state of the real within a visual culture of ever increasing simulacra. The persistent influence of Surrealism runs throughout, with much of my work using the aesthetics of the dream image and collage. The paintings are largely the product of virtual spaces and mediated imagery rather than any directly observed reality.
Works of fiction run deeply through all aspects of our culture, and many of the most iconic events and places that we all recognise and talk about are complete works of fiction. This situation forms the basis for a lot of my paintings. Using the conventions of Landscape, the work is an exploration of hypereality, representation & virtual imagery.
The pictures I work with are often of subjects that are either fake, don't really exist, or are impossible to see in the flesh, but that still have a collective reality amongst groups of people. Naturally, humour and pathos play their part, and the somewhat defunct medium of painting adds an off kilter gravitas to imagery in a world where images are generated by the tens of billions.
My paintings explore a weakened state of the real within a visual culture of ever increasing simulacra. The persistent influence of Surrealism runs throughout, with much of my work using the aesthetics of the dream image and collage. The paintings are largely the product of virtual spaces and mediated imagery rather than any directly observed reality.
Works of fiction run deeply through all aspects of our culture, and many of the most iconic events and places that we all recognise and talk about are complete works of fiction. This situation forms the basis for a lot of my paintings. Using the conventions of Landscape, the work is an exploration of hypereality, representation & virtual imagery.
The pictures I work with are often of subjects that are either fake, don't really exist, or are impossible to see in the flesh, but that still have a collective reality amongst groups of people. Naturally, humour and pathos play their part, and the somewhat defunct medium of painting adds an off kilter gravitas to imagery in a world where images are generated by the tens of billions.
2002 - MA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London
2001 - BA (Hons) Fine Art, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester
Solo Exhibitions
2022 - Show 01, LLE Projects at Bay Art, Cardiff
2019 - The Penultimate Truth, Elysium, Swansea
2018 - Strange Eden, Oriel Mwldan, Cardigan
2014 - Counter Worlds, Futures Gallery, Cardiff
2013 - Mount Analogue, St David's Hall, Cardiff
2001 - Arc Arts, Arc Gallery Store, The Northern Quarter, Manchester
Group Exhibitions
2023 - Staged, Kingsgate, London
2022 - Y Lle Celf, National Eisteddfod, Wales
2022 - Walking in Two Worlds, Volcano Theatre, Swansea
2022 - BEEP, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
2022 - The Competition, Paper, Manchester
2022 - Binary, Terrace, London
2021 - Walking in Two Worlds, Oriel Carn & Oceans Apart
2021 - Plymouth Contemporary, KARST, Plymouth
2020 - View from the Edge, MADE, Cardiff
2020 - Virtually Real, Norman Rea Gallery, York
2019 - Wales Contemporary, Mall Galleries, London & Waterfront, Milford Haven
2019 - Rumblestrip, g39, Cardiff
2019 - The Jacksons Painting Prize, London
2019 - Brex-kit, Swap Editions, Creekside Projects, London
2019 - Paint Dada, Oriel Canfas, Cardiff
2018 - RUG, Cardiff
2018 - Abstract : Reality, Saatchi Gallery, London
2018 - Into a Light, Saatchi Gallery, London
2018 - BEEP 2018, Swansea
2018 - Y Lle Celf, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Cardiff
2018 - Night Swimming, Mission Gallery, Swansea
2018 - Twice as Nice, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2018 - Like the Lines of a Hand, C4RD, London
2018 - Lost in Space, Paper Gallery & LLE, London Art Fair
2017 - Like the Lines of a Hand, Paper Gallery, Manchester
2017 - SWAP Editions, SET, London
2017 - Island of the Real, Gossamer Fog, London
2016 - The Cat Show, Paper Gallery, Manchester
2016 - Y Lle Celf, National Eisteddfod, Wales
2016 - The Human Condition, East Street Arts, Leeds
2016 - Art Copenhagen, Denkmark
2016 - Sound & Vision, Paper Gallery, Manchester
2016 - Semiotic Guerrilla Warfare part III, Dean Clough, Halifax
2016 - London Art Fair, Paper Gallery, London
2015 - [dis]Corporate Bodies 11, The Unstitute
2015 - artists@WAR, GalleryELL
2015 - The Manchester Contemporary
2015 - Art Copenhagen, Denkmark
2015 - Generation Loss, Paper Gallery, Manchester
2015 - KÖLNER LISTE, Cologne
2015 - London Art Fair, Paper Gallery, London
2014 - Exhange Rates, Paper Gallery, Sluice Art Fair New York
2014 - Manchester Contemporary, Paper Gallery, Manchester
2014 - 'Play!', Access Space, Sheffield
2014 - Cites of Ash, g39, Cardiff
2014 - Snow in Summer, Peek-a-Boo Gallery, Perth
2014 - Barnaby Festival, Paper Gallery, Macclesfield
2014 - Supermarket Independant Art Fair, Paper Gallery, Stockholm
2013 - Alter//Shift//Control, Bermondsey Project, London
2013 - Terraform, Mid-America Arts Alliance, Kansas City
2013 - Sluice Art Fair (with Paper Gallery)
2013 - Manchester Contemporary (with Paper Gallery)
2013 - New Lights Art Prize, Mercer Gallery, Harrogate
2013 - Trajector Art Fair, Hotel BLOOM!, Brussels
2013 - A State of Un-Play, Atelier 35, Bucharest, Romania
2013 - Waste Lands, Greenlease Gallery, Kansas City
2012 - Digital Romantics, Dean Clough Gallery, Halifax
2012 - Launch Exhibition, Paper, Manchester
2012 - Manchester Contemporary, Paper, Manchester
2012 - Outcasting: Fourth Wall, Various Venues, Cardiff
2012 - Welsh Artist Of The Year, St David's Hall, Cardiff
2012 - Y Lle Celf, National Eisteddfod of Wales, Vale of Glamorgan
2011 - Sho Home, Sho Gallery, Cardiff
2011 - Winter Show, Sho Gallery, Cardiff
2009 - Wood, Canvas, Steel?, Tactile Bosch, Cardiff
2005 - Makeshift, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham
2005 - Sefton Open, Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport
2005 - Shelved, Octopus Gallery, Athens
2004 - Le Petit Paysage, Liverpool Biennial Independents & Comme Ca Art Gallery, Liverpool & Manchester
2003 - AAS Sci-Fi Double Bill, Various Venues, Birmingham
2003 - XTC Ga Ga, Century Gallery, Cremer Street, London
2002 - Group Exhibition, The Students Gallery, Wimbledon, London
2002 - Red Mansion Art Prize, The London Institute Gallery, Millbank, London
2001 - Fresh Art, Business Design Centre, Islington, London
2000 - Departure Lounge, 1st Class Departure Lounge, Terminal 3, Manchester Airport
Curated Projects
2018-20 - Curator at RUG Gallery, Cardiff
2012 - Create, Observe, Perform, Alkovi Gallery, Helsinki
2011 - Virtually Real, Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds
2010 - Virtually Real, Blyth Gallery, London
2006 - Britishness, Cornerhouse, Manchester
2006 - Making Love To My Ego, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
2004 - Peep Show, Warsaw Gallery, Manchester
2003 - Show Home, Timber Wharf, Castlefield, Manchester
2002 - Red Mansion Art Prize, London
Residencies
2014 - Atelierhaus Salzamt, Linz, Austria
2012 - On-line Residency, The Unstitute, London
2011 - Residency, Cite des Arts, Paris
