Figurative art and urban realism Oliver Bevan

westway triptych, 1987, oliver bevan (details).



walk, 1995, oliver bevan (details).



the clapping song, 1997, oliver bevan (details).



uzès storm v, 2012, oliver bevan (details).

on returning london canada in 1979, bevan rented top-floor studio near smithfield market in farringdon , became painter of modern life , citing manet, degas , sickert influences along urban realism of new objectivity (‘neue sachlichkeit’) in germany , edward hopper , ashcan school in new york. bevan s subject area around studio , scenes everyday life such people in cars, on buses, crossing streets and, later, supermarket interiors. solo exhibitions of farringdon paintings @ 2 london galleries in 1981 , 1984 followed 2 @ barbican centre in 1986 , 1993. latter presented bevan s paintings of westway flyover, elevated dual carriageway in west london had captivated him when car broke down , towed garage in sunless , alienating space between road s concrete stanchions. according writer self, bevan entranced shapes flyover s decks described , embarked on series of large-scale canvases elegantly capture strange dichotomies road represents: beauty , terror, light , darkness . during period, bevan organised, curated , participated in 2 group exhibitions of urban paintings (the subjective city in 1989-90 , witnesses & dreamers in 1993-94) toured public art galleries around uk. solo exhibition, urban mirror, @ royal national theatre in 1997 continued exploration of painted city, writer peter ackroyd comparing bevan s work of auerbach , kossoff, have genuine painterly reverence real features of streets , people. in sense can claim spiritual affinity line of london painters stretches far william hogarth’.

a second solo exhibition @ royal national theatre 5 years later presented series of paintings focused on particular microcosm of urban life. subject had presented in 1994, when bevan moved new studio in disused classrooms @ wendell park primary school in west london. walking , studio each day, became increasingly intrigued behaviour of children in playground, later explained:

in zoological terms wild half hour. contrast between adult , child behaviour struck me more , more forcibly. while we, adults, fastidious space around our own bodies, touching 1 deliberate communication, children in continuous physical contact, holding hands, wrestling or skipping in pairs. girls prefer more socialised games, forming groups dance, skip or clap while boys race, fight , kick footballs. own childhood unlike of this, perhaps why drawn celebrate physical energy, , cultural diversity ..... children understood doing , excited see in paintings .

a selection of bevan s urban paintings in public , corporate collections follows:

westway triptych, 1987, in collection of museum of london.
hanging on, 1989, in collection of middlesbrough art gallery.
apron, 1990, series of 4 paintings commissioned british airports authority gatwick airport.
a drink before show, 1994, commissioned art on underground , in collection of london transport museum.
walk, 1995, in collection of guildhall art gallery, london.
balance, 1998, in collection of herbert art gallery , museum, coventry.

in 2001 bevan relocated uzès, scope of painting broadened again include landscapes and, more recently, effect of light on water. exhibitions @ galleries in paris, brussels, montpellier , avignon in 2004-2011 followed retrospective exhibition in uzès in 2012.