“Cynical, dissatisfied, border-line disruptive, the work broods with a simmering revolutionary disquiet.” – Paul Hobson, Director, Modern Art Oxford “Phil Ashcroft – a 21st century John Martin if John Martin was painting Mega-City One after the neutron bomb had been dropped” – Simon Hollington, Artist and Associate Lecturer in Contextual Studies at Central
“Cynical, dissatisfied, border-line disruptive, the work broods with a simmering revolutionary disquiet.” – Paul Hobson, Director, Modern Art Oxford “Phil Ashcroft – a 21st century John Martin if John Martin was painting Mega-City One after the neutron bomb had been dropped” – Simon Hollington, Artist and Associate Lecturer in Contextual Studies at Central St Martins, London. A derelict hospital, oil depots, nuclear power stations, the abominable snowman; collectively these semi-surreal settings and cartoon-like motifs appear as mysterious manifestations, phenomena both real and imagined. Combining influences from abstract expressionism, British landscape painting, Japanese woodcuts, and graphic street art, Ashcroft integrates varied visual styles to generate a crossover between space, object and environment. Ashcroft lives and works in London.
Qualifications and training
1992-1994 - Post-Graduate Diploma, Illustration, St Martins College of Art & Design, London
1989-1992 - Degree (BA) Hons, Illustration, Harrow College of Art & Design, Harrow
1988-1989 - Foundation, West Surrey College of Art and Design, Farnham, Surrey
Solo exhibitions
2013 - Galácticos, Gamma Transport Division, Edinburgh
2006 - Toxicity, Margaret Harvey Gallery, UH Galleries, St Albans
2005 - Yeti in Hong Kong, EXIT/doublepark, Hong Kong
2002 - Phil Ashcroft, Arc, Manchester
2001 - Nitro Deluxe, Deptford X, London
1998 - Duel, Bedford Hill Gallery, London
Group exhibitions
2014
John Moores Painting Prize 2014, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
REWIRE, Gamma Transport Division, Edinburgh
2012
We Love You, Less is More Projects, Paris
Futurism 2.0, Blackall Studios, London
Pick Me Up 3 (with Nelly Duff), Somerset House, London
2011
Please, Do Not Disturb, Less is More Projects, Paris
Intervention Intervention, Fishmarket Gallery, Northampton
Print and Design Now, SW1 Gallery (curated by Bearspace), London
2010
Innocent Closet, SunBear Gallery, Edinburgh 2010 - 'No Soul for Sale', Tate Modern, London
Print Now, Bearspace, London
Sleight of Hand, Recoat Gallery, Glasgow
1984, Kowalsky Gallery, DACS, London
3-2-1 Solstice, Schoeni Gallery, Hong Kong
2009
Deptford X, commissioned 48-sheet billboard, London
Perfect Present, 242 Space, London
The Free Art Fair, The Barbican, London
Heart of Glass (curated by Flora Fairbairn and Paul Hitchman), Shoreditch Town Hall, London
2008
Scope Basel, monikabobinska, Basel
Special Relationship, Scion, Los Angeles
The Art Car Boot Fair, The Old Truman Brewery, London
The Golden Record, The Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
Wonder Island, Schwartz Gallery, London
2007
ARTfutures, Bloomberg SPACE, London EC2
Celeste Art Prize, T2, London & touring; Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh, London
Open Studio, Kingsland Road, London
Out of the Box and in the Garman Ryan Collection, New Art Gallery, Walsall
2006
Elephant Technique, The Village Underground, London EC2
Scrawl Collective in Taipei, Summit / Pixie, Taipei
2005
ARTfutures, Bloomberg SPACE, London
2004
All The People We Like Are Dead, 17 Kingsland Road, London EC2
