Brian Sinfield Art Gallery
Just In
Dr PJ Crook
Born in Cheltenham, where she still lives, PJ studied at Gloucestershire College of Art and Design which was eventually absorbed by the University where she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts in 2010 and in 2011 an MBE for services to art in the Queen's Birthday Honours. She is represented by galleries in London, New York, Paris and Toronto, as well as here in the Cotswolds, and her work is in major public, corporate and private collections in many parts of the world, principally in Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, England and the United States of America. Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery; Imperial War Museum; Morohashi Museum of Modern Art; Standard Chartered Bank; Centrica; Paul Allen; the Marquess of Bath; the late Jackie Collins and Toyah Willcox are among those who have works in their collections.
From a studio opposite her house, she manages compositions on a monumental scale - paintings can measure 2 x 4.5 metres and also paints small pictures, some no larger than 10 cm square. She works in tinted gesso, acrylic and sometimes in oil on canvas, or on a corrugated wood support, which gives a three dimensional effect to her work, as does her practice of incorporating the frame within the composition. A recurring theme within her work is crowd interaction and some of these paintings have been used as covers for King Crimson's recent albums.
PJ is a Patron of the National Star College, Cheltenham; a Trustee and Director of ACS (the Artists Collecting Society); President of the Friends of Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum; a Gloucestershire Ambassador; Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; member of the Royal West of England Academy (and sometime member of its Council); Manchester Academy of Fine Art; Chelsea Arts Club and the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire.
Illustrated: The Shepherd and his Flock | oil on tinted gesso on wood panel | 60 x 47 cm
To view all avaliable paintings by PJ Crook click here
Featured Artist
Simon Garden
Simon Garden was born in Middlesex in 1960 and studied Fine Art at Exeter School of Art and Design in 1982 where he obtained a First Class BA(Hons), and in 2002 he was elected as an Academician by the Royal West of England Academy, Exeter College of Art and Design. He has been a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy and the Royal West of England Academy where he was one of the youngest artists to be nominated. He works entirely in oil on board. Simon is now based in Bristol.
Simon Garden's paintings are products of an extraordinary imagination. Exciting and original, they draw the viewer into a world of dreams, faintly surreal, odd, yet at the same time familiar. His rich earth colours are applied with thick brush strokes, giving a depth of texture on the surface like the furrows in a ploughed field.
“Pure imagination is what drives Simon Garden's fantastic ideas. Mix it with humour and invention stirred with a with a strong element of mystery, rich colour and thick impasto, you create a powerful result. His work is simply unique. There are nods towards artists who have influenced his work, Breughel and Stanley Spencer for example, have a special relevance. Fantastical architecture reaches for the sky, small figures dwarfed by mighty structures resembling conventional buildings, but not quite. Houses balancing on cliff edges, strange gardens and figures balancing precariously on tall ladders in danger of falling off. This is the fascinating world of Simon Garden, and long may it last.” Brian Sinfield
Image illustrated: Harvest | oil on panel | 60 x 60 cm
To view all paintings by Simon please click here
Exhibition
'Man's Best Friend' 8 February 2020 - 4 March 2020
To celebrate our country's love of dogs, we will be holding an exhibition titled ‘Man’s Best Friend’, featuring a number of artists the gallery represents in addition to others we admire.
Dogs have long been considered 'Man's Best Friend' due to their willingness to provide their owners with unconditional love, loyalty and companionship down to their very last breath. As many of you will know, we're a very dog friendly gallery and have a welcoming committee of two resident spaniels. Over the years we’ve come to realise how important dogs are to their owners and this inspired us to hold an exhibition in their honour.
Featuring new work by: