PROTECT & SURVIVE: GAVIN WATSON
26th November 2020 - 15th May 2021

Informed by the rich visual culture of the North East, Gavin Watson’s paintings explore the relationships forged between humans and animals, and the internal and external worlds they share. Often using humour, he tells playful stories in his surreal and characterful expertly crafted paintings. His quiet but dramatic scenes are almost spiritual, perfectly capturing the essence and emotion of the animals in them. This is Gavin’s first time exhibiting at Gallagher & Turner.

The narratives within Gavin’s work are multi-layered and playfully reference a myriad of sources - from the TV show Tiger King, to environmental issues and climate change, books like The Life of Pi, historical events to cultural traditions. The result is mildly surreal paintings which hint at a larger narrative beyond the dreamlike scenes they represent. They seek to portray our collective consciousness and sense of belonging. Gavin keeps a postcard on his studio wall by artist Gillian Wearing, a man holds a message which says, ‘Everything is connected in life, the point is to know it and to understand it’.

Gavin uses oil paint to create incredibly detailed images of animals like pets, migrating birds and butterflies, farm animals and beyond into more exotic and fantastical animals – cheetahs, elephants and unicorns. His work is realistic in style and uses dynamic abstract compositions to move the viewers eye around the image. Gavin understands the importance of a limited palette and is influenced by Old Masters like Caravaggio, which you can see in his treatment of light.

Last Child in the Woods depicts a young girl in a crowd of butterflies, running through the forest. This painting was informed by a research trip to Morelia, Mexico. Gavin wanted to observe the migration of monarch butterflies as well as birds and people and understand the forces at work during mass migrations and species extinctions. He discovered the annual return of the Monarch’s coincide with the national public holiday and festival we know as ‘Day of the Dead’. Mexicans see the butterflies as spirit messengers of dead ancestors appearing to them. This understanding became fundamental to the origins of this painting.

The exhibition title ‘Protect and Survive’ is also the title of a painting in this series. It references a booklet printed by the UK government in the 1970s which was intended to inform citizens on how to protect themselves during a nuclear attack.

Born in Sunderland in 1962, Gavin Watson lives and works in rural Northumberland. He has exhibited his work at The Bowes Museum, Sunderland Museum, Cricket Hill Gallery in New York and has regularly been selected for the BP National Portrait award. Last year he was awarded the Visitors Choice Award at The New Light Prize and has also been commissioned by The Duchess of Northumberland.

He is currently represented in London by the Jonathan Cooper, Park Walk Gallery and his work is in private collections in North America, Europe and the Middle East.