Sharon Beavan

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 heard about an incident on the news where a refugee was chased and badly beaten while waiting at a bus stop in South London. Observing how people kick out and throw things at pigeons I tried to create a painting that was about impassivity in the face of vulnerability and violence. Someone asked me about the pigeons in the gutter that “look like they are about to be run over by a bus”. I said “Yes, that’s the point”, and told him about the refugee.