Peter Davies

StatementCVExhibitions

Peter Davies is a Scottish artist living in London. His work has evolved since the 90’s with his text paintings, such as 'A to Zs' and 'Top 100s', consisting of lists of his favorite artists in different categories. These paintings combined ‘the tough, dry humor of conceptualism and the elegance and beauty of formalism’. As Davies explains: ‘It allows conceptualism to be a “look” and formalism to be an “idea”.

 

Davies’ most recent body of work is composed of hard-edged abstract paintings derived from paper collages projected onto the canvas. The apparent simplicity of these paintings belies a greater sophistication in their metaphorical construction and design. Their initial appearance is suggestive of gestural painting, but the gesture has been somewhat distanced from the artist’s hand through the intermediary use of scissors over a brush to initially create the painted minimal geometric abstractions.

 

While studying for his MA at Goldsmiths' College in London, Davies was included in three group exhibitions at Lost in Space, London, and in 1997 he appeared in 'Sensation' at the Royal Academy. He has since shown regularly in London, New York, Los Angeles, Brazil and Scandinavia, and has been written about widely in the international art press. His work is in the permanent collection of Tate Gallery, and Saatchi Gallery. He is represented by The Approach Gallery in London, and the Gagosian Gallery in London. 

Peter Davies; Untitled, 2016; acrylic on canvas; 19 1/2 x 15 3/4 in.