76. ALISON WATT
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Orion
2014
oil on canvas 122 x 122 cm |
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Pears, 1994.oil on canvas, 152.5
by 180.5 cm
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Self-portrait, 1986-87. Oil on
canvas, 30.80 x 30.80 cm.
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BIO & STEPS
Born:
In 1965
in Greenock ( Scotland)
Nowadays:
Lives and works in Edinburgh
Studies:
She studied at Glasgow School of Art. It was in 1987 that her work first came to
public attention. She won the National Portrait Gallery’s coveted annual award
and in the late 1980s and early 90s she became well known for her paintings of
figures, often female nudes.
“Shift” in 2000,
was her first solo exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.
1983-7 Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
1987-88 Glasgow School of Art Postgraduate Studies,
Glasgow, UK
2006-2008 Associate Artist at The National Gallery,
London, UK
2008 Awarded the OBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours
List
Themes and
style:
She developed her
art in the 1980s when, focusing on the human figure, she worked on
self-portraits and studies of life models in the studio. Towards the end of the
1990s she became interested in painting folds of fabrics and draperies of the
kind often used as props by life models. The absence of the human figure marked
an important shift in her subject matter. But rather than abandoning the figure
as subject in favour of abstraction, Watt’s new paintings evoked the human body
in its absence.
Techniques:
Her work is developed in oil paintings.
Solo Exhibitions
2014 GENERATION, Alison Watt: Paintings 1986 –2014, Perth
Museum and Art Gallery, Perth, UK
2011 Hiding in Full View, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2008 Phantom, The Sunley Rooms, The National Gallery, London,
UK
2007 Dark Light, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Dark Light, Pier Arts Centre, Orkney, UK
2004 Alison Watt, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Still, Memorial Chapel, Old Saint Paul’s Church, Edinburgh,
UK (now permanently installed)
2002 New Paintings, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, UK
2000 Shift, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art,
Edinburgh, UK
1998 Fold, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum, Aberdeen, UK
Leeds Metropolitan University Gallery, Leeds, UK
1997 Monotypes, Flowers East, London, UK
Fold, The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
1996 New Paintings, Flowers East, London, UK
1990 Contemporary Art Season, Glasgow Art Gallery &
Museum, Glasgow, UK
The Scottish Gallery, London, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions
2015 Northern Lights: Aberdeen Art Gallery at the Fleming
Collection, London, UK
Defining Beauty, The British Museum, London, UK
Collecting Now, Scottish National Portrait Gallery,
Edinburgh, UK
Reality: Modern & Contemporary British Painting, Walker
Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2014 GENERATION: 25 Years of Contemporary Art in Scotland,
Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Reality: Modern & Contemporary British Painting,
Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, UK
2013 Once upon a time and a very good time it was…, Ingleby
Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
The Vasari Corridor, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
40/40, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow, UK
2011 Reflecting Glenfiddich, The Flemming Collection, London,
UK
2010 Autoriatratto, Sala delle Reali Poste, Uffizi, Florence,
Italy
Commission: An exhibition of contemporary art in Bristish
churches, Wallspace, London, UK
Standing Room Only, Flowers Galleries, London, UK
2007 A North Light – Cynosure, Pier Arts Centre, Orkney, UK
The Naked Portrait, Scottish National Portrait Gallery,
Edinburgh, and touring to Compton Verney,
Warwickshire, UK
2006 Strands, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, UK
Divided Selves: The Scottish Self-Portrait, Talbot Rice
Gallery, Edinburgh & The Fleming Collection,
London, UK
2004 Picturing Women, Bryn Mawr College, Philadelphia, USA
2003 White: Callum Innes, Alison Watt, Winston Roeth, James
Hugonin, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2002 New, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art,
Edinburgh,UK
Fold, The City Gallery, Leicester, UK
2001 Here + Now, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, UK
Narcissus, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2001 Can You Judge a Book by it’s Cover, Scottish National
Gallery ofModern Art, Edinburgh, UK
2000 Expressions, Dundee Contemporary Art, Dundee, UK
1999 The Human Figure in Contemporary Art, Galerie de
Bellefeuille, Montreal, Canada
1998 Londres, Glasgow, Edimbourg, Galerie Rachlin LeMarie,
Paris, France
Drawings, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow, UK
1997 Treasures for Everyone, National Arts Collection Fund,
Christie’s, London, UK
10th Anniversary Portfolio, The Freud Museum, London, UK
1996 Four British Painters, John McEnroe Gallery, New York,
USA
Naked, Flowers East, London, UK
1995 75 Years of Painting, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
McLellan Galleries, Glasgow, UK
Small is Beautiful, Flowers East, London, UK
1993 New Figurative Painting, Salander O’Reilly/Fred Hoffman,
Los Angeles, USA
1992 The Portrait Award 1980-89, The National Portrait
Gallery, London, UK
1990 21 Years of Scottish Contemporary Art, Tramway, Glasgow,
UK
1989 The Morrison Portrait Award, The Royal Scottish Academy,
Edinburgh, UK
1987 The National Portrait Competition, National Portrait
Gallery, London, UK
Awards
2008 Order of the British Empire
2006-8 Associate Artist at the National Gallery, London
2005 ACE Award for Still, her installation at Old St Paul’s
Church, Edinburgh
Awarded National Gallery Artist in Residence 2006-08
Glenfiddich Artist in Residence
2003 Winner of Creative Scotland Award
Shortlisted for Jerwood Painting Prize
1996 Scottish Arts Council: Individual Artists Award
1993 City of Glasgow Lord Provost Prize
1989 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Award
1987 Winner of the John Player Portrait Award, National
Portrait Gallery, London
Armour Prize for Still Life Painting, Glasgow School of Art
1986 British Institution Fund, First Prize for Painting,
Royal Academy, London
1986 First Prize for Painting, Glasgow School of Art
Selected Collections
Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, UK
Artemis, London, UK
British Broadcasting Corporation
British Council
Christie’s Corporate Art Collection
Deutsche Bank
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, UK
Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd
The Freud Museum, London, UK
Glasgow Art Gallery & Musuem, Glasgow, UK
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, UK
HBOS Art Collection
The Hunterian Museum, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
Kirkcaldy Museum and Art Gallery, Kirkcaldy, Fife, UK
McMaster University Art Gallery, Ontario, Canada
National Westminster Bank, London, UK
National Portrait Gallery, London, UK
Perth Museum and Art Gallery, Perth, UK
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK
Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
Scottish Opera, Glasgow, UK
The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh, UK
Southampton Art Gallery, Southampton, UK
Uffizi Collection, Florence, Italy
In
her own words:
“Some
of my earliest memories are of paintings and I have no memory of ever wanting
to do anything else other than paint. And for me it’s something that is
vocational, something I have to do. I paint almost every day and it’s an
emotional experience for me. I wouldn’t even describe it as a job, because it’s
just a way of being. It’s something which can be frustrating and something
which doesn’t often give you a lot of happiness but when it does bring you
satisfaction it’s exquisite.”
Galleries
Ingleby
Parafin
For
more Information:
http://generationartscotland.org/artists/alison-watt/