Nathan Eastwood
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(b. 1972 in Barrow-in-Furness, England) lives and works in London.
2008 - 09 MA Fine Art, Byam Shaw School of Fine Art, (CSM), London, UK
2001 - 05 BA (Hons) Fine Art, Kent Institute of Art & Design, Canterbury, UK - (First Class)
Solo Exhibitions
2017
My England, Sid Motion Gallery, London
2016
Laptop & Chips, SE9 Container Gallery, London
2014
Work/Recreation/Freedom, Nunnery Gallery, London
Domestic Realism, (CBP) Crypt St Marylebone Parish Church, London
Selected Group Exhibitions
2019
Made in Britain: 82 Painters of the 21st Century, the National Museum in Gdańsk Poland
Curated by, Robert Priseman, Anna McNay, Małgorzata Taraszkiewicz-Zwolicka and Małgorzata Ruszkowska-Macur
2018
Contemporary Masters from Britain, Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Tianjin, China,
80 works of art selected from the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting
1 December 2017 – 10 January
2017
The Long Count, Von Goetz Art (group show curated by Von Goetz Art, Mayfair, London
Contemporary Masters from Britain, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing, China Contemporary Masters from Britain 80 works of art selected from the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting, 29th – 16th November
Contemporary Masters from Britain, Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing China, 80 works of art selected from the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting, 24th – 31st October
Contemporary Masters from Britain, Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Museum Artall, Nanjing China 80 works of art selected from the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting, 10th – 23rd October
Contemporary Masters from Britain, The Yantai Art Museum Yantai China, 80 works of art selected from the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting, 7th July - 3rd August
Silence Un-scene, Arthouse Lewisham, London
Contemporary Masters from the East of England, 36 works drawn from the collection of 21st Century British Painting, focusing on the East of England, The Cut Halesworth Suffolk, 25th April - 27th May
2016
Aviary, Transition Gallery, London, UK
Selected Works from the Priseman Seabrook Collection, The Minories, Colchester, UK
2015
London Painting Survey, Blackhorse Lane, Studios, London, UK
Anti-Social Realism, Charlie Smith Gallery, London, UK
Documentary Realism: Painting in the Digital Age, the Crypt at St Marylebone, London< UK
Present Tense: The Swindon Collection, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, UK
2014
@PaintBritain, Ipswich Museum
Priseman-Seabrook Collection, Huddersfield Art Gallery, UK
Towards a New Socio-Painting, Transition Gallery, London, UK
Prize winner: The East London Painting Prize, The Nunnery Gallery, Bow Road, London, UK
Signal Over Noise / Don’t Split the Focus, Walthamstow E17, London UK
This Year’s Model, Studio1.1′s, Shoreditch, London, E2, UK
2013
Contemporary British Painting, the Crypt at St Marylebone, London
Zeitgeist Arts Projects, ASC Studios, London (On-line catalogue)
Threadneedle Prize, (finalist) Mall Galleries, London (On-line catalogue)
Royal Academy Summer Show, Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
2012
John Moores Painting Prize, (finalist) Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Occupied Realism, Portman Gallery, E2 0PX London
2011
Platform C’s Emergent Art Show, Vyner Street Gallery, Vyner Street, London
2010
Artworks Open 2010, Barbican Arts Group Trust, E17, London
2009
17 Ingredients Measures of Autonomy, Studio One, London
Awards/Prizes
2014 East London Painting Prize - inaugural winner
2013 The Threadneedle Prize - shortlisted
2012 John Moores Painting Prize – shortlisted
2008 South Square Trust Scholarship, Masters Scholarship at Byam Shaw School of Art
2005 Award: Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art, BA (Hons) Fine Art
Collections
Yale Centre for British Art
Zabludowicz Collection, London
Goldhill Family, London
The Priseman-Sea Brook Collection
Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
Talks
2017 Artists’ Talk: Silence Un-scene, chaired by Nicholas Balmfort, speakers: Nathan Eastwood | Hannah Brown | Marguerite Horner | Rob Reed, Arthouse Lewisham, London
2017 Artist Talk: in conversation with Matt Price (an independent art publisher, editor and curator) My England, Sid Motion Gallery, London
2017 Artist Talk: chaired by Matthew Krishanu, Contemporary British Painting Friends Programme, My England, Sid Motion Gallery, London
2014 Artist Talk: in conversation with Matt Price (an independent art publisher, editor and curator), Work/Recreation/Freedom, The Nunnery Gallery, Bow Road, London, UK
2014 Artists’ Talk: Towards a New Socio-Painting chaired by Alex Michon, Speakers: Nathan Eastwood, Paul O ‘Kane, George Vasey, David Tucker, Transition Gallery, London
2014 Artists’ Talk: Showing Painting, with Katrina Blannin, Nathan Eastwood, Stephanie Moran, The Nunnery, London
2009 Artists’ Talk: Who is Art For? Chaired by Brian Putnam, Speakers: Mick Finch | Andrew McGettigan | Nick Lambrianou | Adam Knight, Byam, Shaw School of Art (CSM) London,
PUBLICATIONS
2019 Made in Britain, group exhibition catalogue, National Museum, Gdansk, Poland
2018 The Anomie Review of Contemporary British Painting, Edited by Matt Price, Published by Anomie
2017 Contemporary Masters from the East of England (Priseman-Seabrook Collection group exhibition catalogue), The Cut,
2017 The Yantai Art Museum, Yantai, China Contemporary Masters from Britain 80 works of art selected from the Priseman Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting
2015 Contemporary Art’s Hottest Talent, The Angel resident magazine, January 2015, Issue 28
2015 The Angel resident magazine
2014 Work/Recreation/Freedom, The Nunnery (exhibition catalogue)
2014 Priseman-Seabrook Collection of 21st Century British Painting, ISBN 1514186772
2014 Domestic Realism, Garageland,17: Society, Transition Gallery, London (UK)
2014 East London Painting Prize (exhibition catalogue)
2012 John Moores Painting Prize (exhibition catalogue)
It was during my Masters Degree that I reached a conceptual point where I felt that the correct procedure in my development was to empty out my art practice off all existing references to the real world. This was a time of de-cluttering and purging and reducing my paintings to a minimal monochromatic object. The painted monochromatic object and its relationship to the exhibition space became my preoccupation. The use of measurements bridged the gap between painted object and exhibition space. The painted monochromatic object and its relationship to the exhibition space became my preoccupation; the use of measurements bridged the gap between painted object and exhibition space. The exhibition space and monochromatic painting object became overtly dependent on each other (symbiotic). I was making for the space; measurements were the backbone to the works structure. The artists I was examining at the time were, Agnes Martin, Alan Charlton, Gunter Umberg, Gerhard Merz, Mel Bochner, Gerhard Richter and Kazimir Malevich. For my MA dissertation I wrote about the author’s book Non-Place by Marc Augé.
After spending time making painted monochromes, or oil on graph paper for example I realised that the art works became too heavily dependent on the exhibition space and the language of measurements. The art works could not function without being considered in relation to the architecture of the exhibiting space; this dependency became its limitation. A dilemma surfaced. This dilemma, forced me to ask myself; what kind of painter (artist) did I want to be; a minimalist or figurative painter? How could I extend my interests in the minimalist aesthetic, but still be able to evade the possibility of burying myself in an overtly academic, formalistic aesthetic? How could I return to the realist model, representing social realities?
This critical question provided my art practice with a new starting point for a new artistic and conceptual direction. This dilemma within my practice required an artistic and conceptual re-invention in order for my practice to develop. I realised that I needed to consolidate all my experiences into a new painting practice. What I wanted to do was to make paintings that kept the minimal aesthetic but paint real life and maintain a reductionist pellet. New questions surfaced; what should my subject be? What do we mean by the term ‘real’? The ‘real’ here, for me, is the actual social sites; social relations; social existence, the politics of everyday life. Today my intention is to, ultimately, make a contemporary ‘Kitchen Sink’ painting; one which has its roots in photo-real painting; a minimal greyscale aesthetic operating and within the objective language social realism.”
As a conceptual framework I will here refer to Georg Lukacs whom states “The inner truth of the works of the great realists rests on the fact that they arise from life itself, that their artistic characteristics are reflections of the social structures of the life lived by the artist himself”
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Statement
Biography