nicola bealing e-catalogue

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 5451www.cadogancontemporary.cominfo@cadogancontemporary.com

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