Michael Gutteridge
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Biography
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Although British, Manchester based painter Michael Gutteridge has painted all his life, he only began to take it up more seriously in 2001, when, after submitting a painting in the 2000 Open Exhibition at the Muncipal Art Gallery, he was invited by them to present a full exhibition of some 20 paintings the following year. Since then, he has continued to develop and explore his own unique vision which involves trying to capture some of the excitement and other emotions evoked by the architecturally eclectic, peculiarly vibrant city he lives in. As a part of this process he puts any reproduced scene through interesting forms of derangement expressed via colour, brushwork, proportionality, shapes, perspective, innate harmonious relationships, energy, and an eclectic juxtaposition of styles. Basically, everything short of throwing in the kitchen sink! Sometimes, he is specifically trying to convey existentially disorientating feelings through these techniques and other times just a general sensual vibrancy.
In the last years his painting has begun to attract more interest especially in his home city, creating considerable media interest. Several new exhibitions planned for 2007-8.
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Statement
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'Whenever I walk around Manchester I get so excited by many of the buildings, streets and skylines I see, that I at least want to photograph them, but more specifically crave to capture some of that emotionally stimulating impression in paint where I can represent more of it and less of the physical actuality the camera records.
'As well as achieving this through an organisation of colour, shapes, angles, proportion, and techniques, as referred to in my biographical notes, I am also interested in an elusive quality I call 'nervous energy', which I believe can be conveyed by any given artist through brushwork in much the same way as everybody's handwriting is unique to themselves and expresses something of their own personality and emotional state whilst writing it.
'More recently, I have become increasingly preocupied with the act of painting in its own right and therefore am not so much painting whatever scene I see, but more painting an actual painting of that scene, as though the art work itself and not the subject matter, were the crucial thing.
Thus, visible brushwork may not necessarily be an attempt to paint any given thing, but may be an attempt to draw attention to brushwork and references to the art of painting itself.
'Some of my influences include, Chaim Soutine, LS Lowry, Edvard Munch, and Carel Weight.'
Michael Gutteridge 2004
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Exhibitions
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Future Exhibitions:
Jan-Feb 2007
The Blyth Gallery Manchester.
www.artmanchester.com
May 2008
The Portico Library & Gallery
57 Mosley Street
Manchester
M2 3HY
England
www.theportico.org.uk
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