Contemporary British Portrait Painters
UPDATE:
A new exhibition has been announced, taking place from 8-15 June, 2024 at The Department Store, Brixton SW9 8FR. Check @thecbpp and @dn_brixton on Instagram for more info.
The review below is from the 2022 exhibition.
I suspect the biggest challenge for the curators of this show was probably how to fit everything in. The installers would likely argue it was all those brick and concrete walls. In either case, it was immediately evident upon entry that this was not your average group show. Clearly a lot of hard work had already been done to ensure the absolute best British portraiture was on display.
52 exceptional artists working in a variety of styles will naturally lead to a spirited discussion about what makes the perfect portrait. But they were all so good my mind quickly changed track and considered this instead: How would I want my own portrait painted?
Should it to be photorealistic? Hero Johnson (@herojohnson.artist) and Laura Quinn Harris (@lauraquinnharris) would do quite nicely in this regard, especially with the latter’s extra flair for matching wardrobe to wallpaper.
Or maybe a more dynamic, stylised approach would suit me? Tom Croft (@tomcroftartist) has a knack for strong angles and directional light, whereas Ange Bell (@angebellart) knows how to push forth features via prominent use of shadows.
Then again, I quite liked the minimal approach of Samira Addo (@mimma_art) who seems to know just what needs to be painted with a few swift strokes. But I also liked the completely opposite approach of Peter Monkman (@pete.monkman), who layers multiple angles of his subjects. Despite their radically different styles, both evoked fluidity and time.
There was something almost cubist-like in the portraits by James Bland (@j.bland) that appealed to me, as did the colourful works of Jane French (@janefrenchartist) who seems to assign a distinctly different palette to each of her subjects. And sometimes a good portrait doesn’t need a paintbrush, but a pencil. Amongst all the sketch-style works on display, Curtis Holder (@curtisartist) stood out for his approach of combining pencils with acrylic gouache for an effect that isn’t quite a drawing, isn’t quite a painting, but is entirely captivating.
Those are the nine on my shortlist, but there are so many worthy contenders that you really ought to go see them all before the show closes.
Until 18 June at The Department Store, Brixton. Check @thecbpp and @dn_brixton on Instagram for more details and to confirm hours.
* TheCBPP.org was founded in 2018 and has an invitation-only membership policy for artists that are “searching for something new in their work, to find their own voice and portray honesty and technical ability in their submissions”. Other artist collectives would do well to study what they do to set their quality bar so high.
PS - Almost everything is for sale, although I struggle to find the appeal in purchasing a portrait of someone you don’t know. However, the listed prices are a helpful way to help you hone your selection for private commission.