Julian works mainly in oil paint and gouache.He makes small studies on his trips to London,Bath and the West Country with conte pencils. On returning to the studio he will work these drawings up by adding colour & some of these images will go on to form the basis for his larger studio work.
Julian has been painting almost everyday for about thirty years & has developed a very concise style, characterised by his ‘drawing in paint’ approach. This leads to cleanly mixed clear colour, painted with considerable impasto, but separated by scraped back areas. The scraping back allows each mark to ‘stand alone’ & the colour to sing out.
This process of building to great refinement followed by controlled destruction, & lightening speed reconstruction is repeated over the life of the painting until a resolution s finally found. Many pictures fall by the way in the process.
The themes of standing & seated figures, boats & still life have been a preoccupation for many years. Each theme is continuously revisited as new knowledge & insight is bought to bear on the subject.
Julian Bailey’s recent work focuses on the contemporary figure, exploring the meeting up of groups of people in bar & cafe society. Painted with characteristically long limbs and angular torsos Julian’s economic use of paint brings out the essential relationships of youthful figures.
This collection of work is also based on the courtyard & loggia settings
at home. These paintings centre on the relationship between handmade pottery, flowers & herbs. As with the figurative painting, colour is the primary concern, but the sculptural qualities of the form are never sacrificed to this end. The aim being to find a matching resolution of form & colour in space.
Biography
1963
Born in Cheshire
1981
Studied with Patrick Hamilton in Florence, before going to Oxford University and the Ruskin School of Art.
1986
Moved to London for post graduate studies at the Royal Academy Schools
1988 – 1995
Painted Notting Hill and Portobello series of works.
1987
Met the artist Joseph Herman, whose work he greatly admired.
1999
Moved to Stinsford near Dorchester, in Dorset with his wife Sophie and the family.
2002 – 2004
Painted Gifford Circus & Theatre studies.
2000 – 2012
Dorset Coastal paintings
2009 onwards
Visits to Falmouth, Fowey, St Ives & the West Country estuaries
2011
Elected member of the New English Art Club
2012
Starts to paint regularly in gouache as well as oil
2013 – 2017
Working on garden & loggia flower series
2013 – 2017
London South Bank pictures ‘Walking by water figures’
Solo Exhibitions
1980
First one man show, Great Malvern.
1991 – 2000
Four one man shows at New Grafton Gallery, London.
2008
The Russel Gallery, London.
1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013
Browse & Darby, London
2009, 2012, 2014
Sladers Yard, Dorset.
2017
Browse & Darby, London.
Group Shows
2001 – 2017
Art Chicago, Browse & Darby
2003
The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2004
Hunting Art Prize finalist
2007 – 08
Dorset Visual Art Exhibition, The Study Centre, Poole
2009
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour Bankside Gallery, London
2010
Originals 10 Printmakers Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
2011
Exhibited at the 125th Anniversary Show, Mall Galleries, London
Bite Artists as Printmakers, Mall Galleries, London
Royal Academy Summer Show, London
2012
Lynn Painter-Stainers finalist
2015 – 2017
Thomas Henry Fine Art, Nantucket, USA
2016 – 2017
Belgrave Gallery, St Ives
Prizes
1984
Egerton Coghill Landscape prize (Oxford University)
1986
Turner Gold Medal (R.A.Schools)
1988
Landseer Scholarship
2011
David Messum Prize, New English Art Club
Manya Igel Prize
Contact
To contact Julian Bailey, please send an email using the form below.