Nicola Bealing
NICOLA BEALING
1st April - 20th April 2014
Gallery Hours:Monday - Friday: 10am - 6pm
Saturday: 11am - 6pm
C A D O G A NC O N T E M P O R A R Y
87 Old Brompton RoadLondon SW7 3LD
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7581 [email protected]
Nobody else paints like Nicola Bealing. She is a true original. Full of the most exuberant fantasies and often depicting an alternative universe, these images are always surprising, but ultimately benign and they unfailingly elicit a broad smile in the viewer. Her work is full of allegories, imagination and references to a wide canon of western civilization from biblical and literary themes to classical mythology.
However dark and bizarre her subjects there always seem to be a gentleness within the pictures that evokes a happier world. Everybody is charmed and lifted by Nicky’s work, often overlooking the sheer quality of the painting. She is an extremely gifted painter, something that has been recognized over the years with numerous awards and prizes.
This is her tenth exhibition with Cadogan Contemporary; her first with us was almost twenty years ago in 1995, and this is without a doubt her best. The paintings demonstrate the spontaneous technical mastery with which she is able to fulfil the huge reach and ambition of her imagination. They are on the whole painted slowly, often over many months, rich in astonishing detail that rewards repeated observation.
In a time of global turmoil her appeal is universal and needs no common language.
She deserves boundless recognition and I am confident that this exceptional exhibition will go a long way towards achieving this.
Christopher Burness2014
Erysichthonoil on linen48“ x 48“122cm x 122cm
Plague SeasonOil on linen48” x 48”122cm x 122cm
Winner of The First Impression Prize, The Threadneedle Prize 2013
Swimming LessonOil on linen60” x 72”152cm x 183cm
BattlegroundOil on linen72” x 72”183cm x 183cm
Self-Portrait with Ancestors and Descendants Oil on linen60” x 60”152cm x 152cm
New Species New DiseaseOil on linen60” x 60”152cm x 152cm
ArchiveOil on linen48” x 48”122cm x 122cm
12 x 8Oil on linen60” x 48”152cm x 122cm
9 x 8
Oil on linen60” x 48”
152cm x 122cm
StrippedOil on linen48” x 84”122cm x 214cm
Previous Left:SpectatorsOil on Linen48” x 60”
122cm x 152cm
Previous Right: Black BeachOil on linen60” x 48”152cm x 122cm
Scattering Shoal with FeetOil on linen48” x 84”122cm x 214cm
Dirty Man Clean ManOil on linen48” x 36”122cm x 92cm
LoversOil on linen60” x 48” 152cm x 122cm
A Day’s WorkOil on linen36” x 48”92cm x 122cm
SoupOil on linen48” x 48”122cm x 122cm
Paradise IslandOil on linen36” x 24”92cm x 61cm
Overloaded HorseOil on linen
19” x 24”48cm x 61cm
SwimmersOil on linen
8” x 16”21cm x 41cm
SuckeredOil on board21” x 13”54cm x 33cm
Embarrassing ParentsOil on linen
16” x 20”41cm x 51cm
Boy with Curly Hair, BurningOil on linen
16” x 12”41cm x 30cm
GamblersOil on linen
16” x 20”41cm x 51cm
MenuOil on linen
16” x 20”41cm x 51cm
The Hand that FeedsOil on linen16” x 20”41cm x 51cm
Solo Exhibitions IncludeCadogan Contemporary, London (1995 – 2014)Cath Alexandrine Danneskiold-Samsøe Gallery, Copenhagen, DenmarkBeaux Arts Gallery, Bath (1996 – 2011)The Campden Gallery, Glos.The Lemon Street Gallery, CornwallWagner and Schortgen Fine Art, LuxembourgThe Montpelier Gallery, LondonPlymouth Arts Centre
Selected Group ExhibitionsThe Threadneedle Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Mall Galleries, LondonThe Jerwood Contemporary Collection, Jerwood Gallery, HastingsThe Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, Mall Galleries, LondonThe Discerning Eye (’95,’97,’99,’03,’04,’10 invited artist 2008, 2005 and 2011) Mall Galleries, London‘Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue?’, Flowers Gallery, London‘In Abundance’ Kestle Barton, CornwallWills Lane Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall‘Print!’ The Exchange Gallery, Penzance, CornwallLynn Painter-Stainer’s Prize, LondonThe National Open Art Competition, Chichester (2008,’09,’10)Newlyn Society of Artists, Critics Choice (1992-2008)The Drawing Show, Exchange Gallery, PenzanceThe Hunting Art Prizes, The Royal College of Art, LondonRecent Acquisitions, Unilever House, LondonThe Best of Contemporary Painting, Royal West of England Academy, BristolThe Belgrave Gallery, St Ives CornwallWaterman Fine Art, LondonThe BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery (1994-’99)‘Peninsular Journies’ Lancashire and Middlesex University Art GalleriesThe Royal Society of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London
Nicola Bealing
CollectionsPrudential plcThe Jerwood Foundation, LondonThe Unilever Collection, LondonLondon International BrokersDeutsche Bank, LondonThe Royal College of Paediatrics and Child HealthHampshire County CouncilMillfield School, Somerset
Awards2013 The First Impression Prize, The Threadneedle Exhibition2008 The National Open Art Competition – Highly Commended2007 Selector’s Award / Bridgeman Art Library Prize, RWA1999 Meynell Fenton Prize, The Discerning Eye1995 Short-listed, The BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery1995 First Prize, Millfield Open Exhibition1995 Gallery Prize, The Discerning Eye1992 First Prize, The South West Open Exhibition
Photography: Steve TannerArtist’s Portrait: Tod Welch