Michael Simpson (painter)
Michael Simpson (born 1940) is a British painter. Simpson has had major solo shows at the Serpentine (1985),[1] the Arnolfini (1996),[2] Spike Island (2016),[3] and BlainSouthern (2017), and in 2016 won the John Moores Painting Prize for his painting Squint (19).[4]
Michael Simpson | |
---|---|
Born | 1940 (age 79–80) |
Nationality | British |
Education | Arts University Bournemouth, Royal College of Art |
Known for | Painting |
Awards | John Moores Painting Prize |
Career
Born in Dorset of Anglo-Russian parents, he attended Bournemouth College of Art (1958–60) and the Royal College of Art (1960–63).[5] Simpson makes large scale paintings in ongoing series. These often repeat and rework a number of subjects and elements. Simpson's influences includes early Flemish painting, and his painting style incorporates minimalism and other types of formal restraints.[6] He describes his approach to painting as a "deceptive force of the constructed image."
In Vitamin P3, a guide to contemporary painting, critic Barry Schwabsky described Simpson’s ‘allegiance to a conception more readily associated with abstraction than with painting that employs images’. He goes on to describe the artist’s preoccupation with “the idea that painting is not a kind of imaginary opening in the wall through which we get an illusory view of another world, but rather a physical thing that is made, whose flat surface confronts the viewer with a presence that demands engagement.”
Simpson has served as lecturer in several British Art Schools and Universities, and has been featured in various documentaries including "Odyssey of a Painter" (Louisiana Channel Documentary). He currently lives and works in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire.
National collections
- Tate (London, England)
- Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Copenhagen)
- British Council (England)
- Arts Council (England)
- David Roberts Collection (London)
- Ekard Collection (Netherlands)
Awards
- John Moores (2016)
- Winner of the London Arts Foundation Fellowship (1999)
- John Moores 17 (1991)
- Tolly Cobbald Open (1977)
External links
Notes and references
- "Michael Simpson Paintings". Serpentine Gallery. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- "Michael Simpson - Bench Paintings". Serpentine Gallery. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- "Michael Simpson - Flat Surface Painting". Spike Island Artspace. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- "John Moores 2016". Walker Art Gallery. 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- Wright, Karen (16 August 2013). "In the studio: Michael Simpson, painter". The Independent. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
- "ArtReview September 2017". Art Review. Retrieved 20 November 2017.