Peter Seal Scottish, b. 1959

Overview

Peter Seal is a Scottish artist based in Manchester, who produces work in a variety of mediums - collage, painting & sculpture. 

 

His paintings result from a process of deconstruction and reconfiguration. Each begins with the idea of an image and the nature of its constituent marks, visualised in a preparatory drawing. Then, on a canvas of pristine whiteness, or one stained in subtle tonal variation, the artist puts down an enlarged version of the image in acrylic paint. Subsequently, this canvas is cut into sections and stitched back together to form an entirely new compositional arrangement, that of the finished work. There are stages in between, involving photography and small collage studies, the resultant paintings dependent on highly developed pictorial design combined with rigorous craftsmanship.  There is great variety in these paintings, of surface texture, line, edge, and of inter-relationships of positive and negative shape. Integral to all of this is the physicality of paint and colour, its optical weight and vibrancy. 

~ Dr Ian Massey, August 2020

 

Works
Biography

BIOGRAPHY 

1959 - Born in Perthshire, Scotland
1977-81 - Attended Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee
1980 - Hospitalfield House, Arbroath
1981-82 - Subsequently attended Manchester Metropolitan University
1982-94 - Taught at Blackpool and the Fylde College
1984-96 - Taught at Manchester Metropolitan University

 

Selected Exhibitions

1987 - Two man exhibition, The Showroom, Bethnal Green, London - with Robert Welch
1992 - Two man exhibition, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester - with Craigie Aitchison
1994 - 'Unveiled: Possibilities in Abstract Painting' The Cornerhouse, Manchester
1996 - Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
2003 - Martin Tinney Gallery, Cardiff;
 - 'Beyond the Endgame - Abstract Painting in Manchester' Manchester Art Gallery
2007 - 'Void/Noir. Visions in the Absence of Sight' Musee d'Art de Joliette, Quebec, Canada
2013 - Awarded First Prize at the Bankley Open, Levenshulme, Manchester
2014 - 'Peter Seal: Paintings and Collages' Solo exhibition curated by Dr Ian Massey at Bankley Gallery, Levenshulme, Manchester
2017 - 'Play' - Blankley Gallery, Manchester
- The Decorative Autumn Fair, London (Anthony Hepworth Fine Art Dealers)
- Brownsword Hepworth, Chelsea, London SW3
2018 - The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, Islington, London N1 (Brownsword Hepworth)
- The Decorative Spring Fair, London (Anthony Hepworth Fine Art Dealers)
- Summer exhibition, Brownsword Hepworth, Chelsea, London SW3
Peter Seal is represented by ANTHONY HEPWORTH FINE ART
Exhibitions