exhibitions & events 2017

Ray Richardson: Country Got Soul

Dubbed the "Martin Scorsese of painting" [i], London’s Ray Richardson returns to Glasgow this summer with a blockbuster exhibition of  cinematic paintings and prints.
 
Ray Richardson's paintings and prints are more than just a mirror of everyday life. They are drawn from his own experience of being born, bred and from living and working in London but also his experiences beyond there. When you look at his work you don’t have to experience it through the usual suspects of art history and great artists. See it too through the minor musical language of a 1970s Marvin Gaye and Gil Scott Heron or the pulp history of James Ellroy (author of the book and the Oscar winning film L.A. Confidential who incidentally owns three Richardson's) or the motivation of cinema and photography.

 
Having been a fellow student at Goldsmiths of Damien Hirst, Ray is the first to admit that his kind of narrative figuration goes against current and past trends in British art. Yet in spite of this, his swimming against the tide has created an audience and strong demand for his work, both in UK and overseas.
 
Richardson was first invited to produce prints at Glasgow Print Studio in 1991 when he made etchings and lithographs depicting his hallmark south east London characters in everyday situations. He has since made over 30 editions and had 2 solo shows at GPS.

Richardson was born in Woolwich, London in 1964. He studied at St Martins School of Art and Goldsmiths College. He has lived and worked in London, Brussels, Paris and Chicago. He currently lives and works in London.

 [i] Lindsay Macrae, GQ Magazine.

On display as a full suite for the first time is a new series of panoramic format screenprints editioned at GPS entitled Lucky 7. This new series typifies the cinematic quality, vitality and drama that are hallmarks of Richardson's carefully observed figurative reflections.

The narrative within the print is set up by the artist's observational and drawing skills working with witty titles to reveal a twist in the tale or imply an underlying tragic humour. Unlike his older prints there is not a comic element to these, but rather the sense that something disturbing has taken place, is about to happen or is occurring 'off screen'.

Click here to view a PDF catalogue of all the works in the series.

Above: Place You Can’t Place, screenprint, 2016, 31 x 71 cm, edition of 30.

Image: (from top) 'Aka Irish Frank ', oil on linen. 'Dreamtime', oil on linen.