Previous Exhibitions

Nicholas Bush is based in London where he is currently doing a postgraduate course in drawing at the Prince’s Drawing School, Bush graduated from the Painting & Drawing department of Glasgow School of Art
in 2010.

The exhibition consists of a number of portraits of parish priests at their rectories, gardens, churches, crypts and in his studio as well as paintings of the South Downs near his his hometown of Lewes. Bush became interested in the portrayal of contemporary priests when considering the switch of the artist’s role at the time of the Reformation in northern Europe. Commissions for biblical scenes were ousted in favour of more secular forms of art such as landscapes, still lives and portraits. There was a
large quantity of portraits of priests made during
this period.

‘I had the sense that this project could allow me to explore historical painting strategies that aim to convey status, power and spirituality within a contemporary context. Meeting each priest for the first time I approach the initial sittings with both preconceptions and a systematic way to deal with the paintings yet these ideas evaporate as the painting process develops; I return to look again, absorb, remember and attempt to make a painting that evokes the singularity of each priest.’

Such a process has allowed Bush to both engage with existing systems and methods of representation, whilst also (more importantly) build his own evolving systems which are constantly shifting and may also question traditional functions of colour and composition. What interests him ultimately, through the concrete means of paint and within the tradition of portraiture, is an attempt to express the intangible (status, power, discipline and spirituality).

Recent Solo shows include ‘Portraits of the Clergy’ at the Bellshill Cultural Centre in Scotland. Recent group exhibitions include ‘The Last Gasp’ at Main Yard gallery, Hackney Wick and ‘Olympic State’ with Jim Woodall at See gallery, Hackney Wick. He is teaching drawing at the Natural History museum as part of the ‘Young Artists Drawing Club.’

You can contact him here and see more of his work at nickbushpaintings.blogspot.com

All paintings are for sale and priced between
£350 and £450, please contact the artists for
more details.