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Christopher Wood (Scottish painter)
Encyclopedia
Christopher Wood is a contemporary Scottish
abstract
landscape
painter. Educated at George Watson's College
and James Gillespie's High School
, he received a Bachelor of Arts
at Edinburgh College of Art
, specialising in drawing and painting.
He now lives and works in the coastal town of Dunbar
, East Lothian
.
He is an active proponent of the FareShare
program for donations to the homeless. Preferring to paint with oil
and enamel
, he is often compared to Nicolas de Staël
, Joan Eardley
, and William Gillies.
Generally showing elements of representation
and abstraction
in his works, Wood's paintings, allegedly inspired by the landscapes around his home in Dunbar
, are likely inspired by color field
s. Recently, he has begun experimenting with mixed media
, implementing the imperfections within his choice of canvas, in combination with the heavy application of paint, to produce the desired effect. Also, since the beginning of his career, he has slowly begun producing more abstract works, usually preferring to use impasto
to shape his forms.
Although his works are more abstract now, Wood insists that his designs ultimately come from nature: "While my paintings are no longer topographical, for me they are still solidly grounded in Nature. They have to be. The meaning of a painting is now more about emotional responses,...but their inspiration and visual vocabulary still come from the land.." http://www.christopherwood.co.uk/press3.html
Often he implements impasto in uncommon ways; often, he scrapes away nearly the entirety of a layer of paint, apparently to reveal the texture of the paint itself. He also commonly creates paintings by overpainting
his previous compositions.
Since 1987, his work has been exhibited around the United Kingdom
, in Corpus Christi College
, at the Royal Scottish Academy
, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts
, and the Paisley Art Institute, as well as the Manor House Gallery, Macaulay Gallery, and many other galleries in Edinburgh, Oxfordshire
, London
, Glasgow
, East Lothian
, Newcastle
, Aldeburgh
, Aberfoyle, Manchester
, Leicester
, and Glyndebourne
.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
painter. Educated at George Watson's College
George Watson's College
George Watson's College, known informally as Watson's, is a co-educational independent day school in Scotland, situated on Colinton Road, in the Merchiston area of Edinburgh. It was first established as a hospital school in 1741, became a day school in 1871 and was merged with its sister school...
and James Gillespie's High School
James Gillespie's High School
James Gillespie's High School is a state secondary school in Marchmont, Edinburgh. The school is a comprehensive High School, educating pupils aged 11 to 18 years of age. It has recently celebrated its 200th anniversary, and its campus consists of primarily 1960s buildings alongside the 16th...
, he received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
at Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art
Edinburgh College of Art is an art school in Edinburgh, Scotland, providing tertiary education in art and design disciplines for over two thousand students....
, specialising in drawing and painting.
He now lives and works in the coastal town of Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
.
He is an active proponent of the FareShare
FareShare
FareShare is a national United Kingdom charity operating since 2004, aimed at relieving food poverty and reducing food waste. They do this by taking surplus food and drink from the food industry and redistributing it amongst communities.-See also:...
program for donations to the homeless. Preferring to paint with oil
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
and enamel
Vitreous enamel
Vitreous enamel, also porcelain enamel in U.S. English, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C...
, he is often compared to Nicolas de Staël
Nicolas de Staël
Nicolas de Staël was a painter known for his use of a thick impasto and his highly abstract landscape painting...
, Joan Eardley
Joan Eardley
Joan Eardley was a British artist.Joan Kathleen Harding Eardley was born in Warnham, Sussex, England where her parents were dairy farmers. Her mother, Irene Morrison, was Scottish. Joan had a sister, Patricia, born in 1922...
, and William Gillies.
Generally showing elements of representation
Representation (arts)
Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through the act of naming its elements...
and abstraction
Abstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
in his works, Wood's paintings, allegedly inspired by the landscapes around his home in Dunbar
Dunbar
Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 28 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border at Berwick-upon-Tweed....
, are likely inspired by color field
Color Field
Color Field painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. It was inspired by European modernism and closely related to Abstract Expressionism, while many of its notable early proponents were among the pioneering Abstract Expressionists...
s. Recently, he has begun experimenting with mixed media
Mixed media
Mixed media, in visual art, refers to an artwork in the making of which more than one medium has been employed.There is an important distinction between "mixed-media" artworks and "multimedia art". Mixed media tends to refer to a work of visual art that combines various traditionally distinct...
, implementing the imperfections within his choice of canvas, in combination with the heavy application of paint, to produce the desired effect. Also, since the beginning of his career, he has slowly begun producing more abstract works, usually preferring to use impasto
Impasto
In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly, usually thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas...
to shape his forms.
Although his works are more abstract now, Wood insists that his designs ultimately come from nature: "While my paintings are no longer topographical, for me they are still solidly grounded in Nature. They have to be. The meaning of a painting is now more about emotional responses,...but their inspiration and visual vocabulary still come from the land.." http://www.christopherwood.co.uk/press3.html
Often he implements impasto in uncommon ways; often, he scrapes away nearly the entirety of a layer of paint, apparently to reveal the texture of the paint itself. He also commonly creates paintings by overpainting
Overpainting
Overpainting can mean the final layers of paint, over some type of underpainting, in a system of working in layers. It can also mean later paint added by restorers, or an artist or dealer wishing to "improve" or update an old image—a very common practice in the past. The underpainting gives a...
his previous compositions.
Since 1987, his work has been exhibited around the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, in Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, at the Royal Scottish Academy
Royal Scottish Academy
The Royal Scottish Academy is a Scottish organisation that promotes contemporary Scottish art. Founded in 1826, as the Royal Institution for the Encouragement of the Fine Arts, the RSA maintains a unique position in Scotland as an independently funded institution led by eminent artists and...
, the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts
Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts
The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts is an independent organisation in Glasgow, founded in 1861, which promotes contemporary art and artists in Scotland. It is the third largest organization of its kind in the United Kingdom...
, and the Paisley Art Institute, as well as the Manor House Gallery, Macaulay Gallery, and many other galleries in Edinburgh, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
, Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh
Aldeburgh is a coastal town in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Located on the River Alde, the town is notable for its Blue Flag shingle beach and fisherman huts where freshly caught fish are sold daily, and the Aldeburgh Yacht Club...
, Aberfoyle, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, Leicester
Leicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
, and Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne is a country house, thought to be about six hundred years old, located near Lewes in East Sussex, England. It is also the site of an opera house which, with the exception of its closing during the Second World War, for a few immediate post-war years, and in 1993 during the...
.