Neil Pittaway

About



OVERVIEW

As a child in the early 1970s,  I started drawing the world around me, as well as ideas from my imagination. My early subjects included castles, people, flowers, and architecture - many of which have remained important to me to this day.

I started exhibiting in competitions and exhibitions  at a very young age, this included a BBC Blue Peter dinosaur competition  where I won a Blue Peter badge in 1979.




 ARTIST STATEMENT 

My works reflect ideas from East and Western sources and perspectives such as Anglo-European heritage, transatlantic connections, Asian landscapes, gothic revival architecture, urbanness, satire, illustration and narrative. My work incorporates and explores these identities through direct and indirect observation creating complex and seemingly agoraphobic, perspective spaces; a labyrinth, which reflects the built and natural environments and echoes the monumental histories that make up our collective European and International identities, our heritage.




METHOD OF WORKING

My drawings, paintings and prints are developed from extensive research and sketches produced from direct and indirect observation. I use many different skills, methods, techniques and processes to create richly layered tapestries on the pictures’ surfaces. My drawings and etchings employ a detailed network of line, bitten deep into copper plate or drawn using traditional dip pen and ink whilst his paintings employ more spontaneous yet complex layered marks drawing on the luminous qualities of the paint’s pigments. Everywhere I travel I work directly from the subject using sketchbooks to record a journey; in recent years this has included Africa , the Middle East, Europe and trekking  extensively in the Himalayas. These records are then used directly and indirectly to create finished works that capture the essences of time and place.




SELECTED BIOGRAPHY

I am a British artist born in Yorkshire in 1973. I studied at the Royal Academy Schools in London, as well as Bradford University, Huddersfield University, the University of Seville in Spain, and the Cheltenham School of Art. I am a member of the New English Club (NEAC), (where I currently serve on the committee as the clubs Archivist), the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS), the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (RE), and the Leeds Fine Artists (LFA). I am also an associate member of The Alpine Club in London and an alumni graduate member of the Royal Academy Schools, London.

I have won many prizes for my work. These include the British Institution Prizes for both drawing and printmaking, awarded by the Royal Academy of Arts in London, The Ashmolean Museum Vivien Leigh Bequest Printmaking Prize, The  Dover Street Arts Club Excellence in Drawing Award in Mayfair, London. These are just a few of the many awards I have received for my Art works.

I have exhibited my work in numerous group exhibitions throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. These venues have included prestigious institutions such as:

  • The Royal Albert Hall, London (where my work was featured in their first-ever calendar sold in their shop)
  • Waterstones, Piccadilly, London
  • Royal Academy of Arts, London
  • Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
  • Christie's, Mayfair, London
  • Chris Beetles Gallery, St. James's, Pall Mall, London
  • Barber Institute of Art, Birmingham
  • Blossom Street Gallery, York, UK
  • Leeds City Art Gallery, UK
  • Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK
  • York City Art Gallery, UK
  • Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, UK
  • Scarborough Art Gallery, UK
  • Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, UK
  • Victoria Art Gallery, Bath Spa, UK
  • British Council Gallery, New Delhi, India
  • National Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
  • Heritage Malta, Valletta, Malta
  • Fabiano Museum, Italy
  • Centro Modigliani, Florence, Italy
  • Museum of Modern Art, Nairobi, Kenya
  • Mall Galleries, The Mall, London 
  • St. David's Hall, Cardiff, Wales, UK
  • The Penn State University, USA
  • Carrolton Cultural Arts Centre, Georgia, USA

In addition, I exhibit annually at the Mall Galleries on The Mall in central London, as well as throughout the year at the Bankside Gallery (next to Tate Modern)

Please visit the Exhibitions/News page on this site for details on where you can currently see my work on public display .




SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

I have had numerous solo exhibitions throughout the UK, including shows at The Alpine Club in central London, Arts Mill in Hebden Bridge, Burlington Fine Art in Piccadilly, London, The Cooper Art Gallery in Barnsley, King's Lynn Arts Centre, Dean Clough Galleries in Halifax, Shine Arts in Leeds, and The Mansion House Galleries at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell.