Sharon Beavan
Click to enlarge.
-
Little Lady, Islington. 2016. Oil on canvas. 23 x18cm
-
Ships framed.
Shipping added at checkout.
To purchase in a different currency contact us.
Biography
I was born in London and grew up in Stevenage. I did the Foundation Course at St. Albans School of Art and studied painting at Falmouth Art School and the Royal College of Art. I have always worked figuratively and used drawings from direct observation and memory as my starting point. From 1986 to 2020 I taught at various art schools, becoming the Co - Founder and Co - Director of The Foundation Year at The Royal Drawing School in 2012.
In 1990 I began my painting ‘The View to Blackfriars Bridge to Westminster Bridge’ which I continue to work on. I am interested in the process of painting, it’s slowness and directness. My figure paintings are based on people I may pass in the street or from drawings made from the 1980’s up to the present day.
Key Exhibitions
In February 2020 I exhibited with Gethin Evans at The Royal Drawing School London, in our two person show ‘Meeting Points’. In 2019 my painting ‘Vaping Man’ was voted Painting of the Day at the Royal Academy Summer Show. During 2016 I curated ‘Short Stories’ at The Cut Arts Centre in Suffolk, showing paintings about the relationship of public to private experience by Frances Edmonds, Mary Mabbutt and myself. Other recent exhibitions include Cache, curated by Richard Burton, Various Species, curated by Graham Crowley and The Architecture of London at the Guildhall Art Gallery. I have work in the collections at the Museum of London, Guildhall London and Victoria and Albert Museum.
See Sharon’s Lockdown Interview here -
About the work
I moved to Islington in 1979. At that time the Angel always felt like November, dirty and dank, particularly by the Intersection where I saw this lady. She was reading a letter or flyer of some sort and wearing a heavy coat. Her legs were swollen and bandaged which was a common thing among old women not that long ago; she had much facial hair but a balding head and I made a quick crude drawing of her that I kept in my space at the R.C.A. Despite many attempts to make a painting about her, I was only able to achieve something in 2016.
