Jon Braley
British, b.1975
Jon Braley paints about how we relate to nature in an urban, technological age. The more we live in cities and cocoon ourselves from the natural world, the more we become separated from it.
BIOGRAPHY
In the process, “nature” has become a commodity or consumable idea that we have come to see as separate from ourselves. Like ancient myth or legend, the natural world has managed to become something romanticised but distant: an essential part of our identity that we nevertheless have increasing trouble reconnecting with. The works are loosely based on landscape painting, but are non-specific: in their imagery, they are more about exploring the idea of raw, untempered nature. There are hints of horizon lines and figurative suggestions – a painting might remind one person of the sea, another of smoke from a fire, or of the depths of a forest – but the objective is to use abstraction to tap into something more amorphous and primeval.Jon paints with his hands rather than using brushes, working the paint in an almost trance-like state to create something organic and fluid. The resin acts like a kind of synthetic shield, a physical barrier between the viewer and the abstract natural ideal, to echo this state of separation of the viewer from the myth of raw nature.
Education
MA European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art
2000 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Derby
1999 Solo Exhibition, The Elements, James Freeman Gallery
2012 Myth & Nature, Sesame Gallery, London
The Sublime 2006 Tregoning Fine Art, Ashbourne
2004 Makers of Marks, James Freeman Gallery
2018 Lost & Found, James Freeman Gallery
2015 The Winter Garden, James Freeman Gallery
60% Water, James Freeman Gallery
The Great Outdoors, James Freeman Gallery
2011 John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize, Walker Museum, Liverpool,
2010 – 11 KIAF, Seoul, South Korea,
2010 Wunderkammer, Sesame Gallery, London,
2010 Tregoning Contemporary, Derby,
2010 SCOPE Basel, Switzerland,
2009 Art Daegu South Korea, 2009
2009 SCOPE Art Fair, London, 2008
” Regroup”, Sesame Gallery, London 2008
Sesame Salon 2008, London The Sesame Salon 2006,
2007 London Blindart Finalist
2006 AAF London, 2005 – 8 London Art Fair, Islington,
2005 ” Sterling Stuff” group show with Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, Lynn Chadwick and others, Tregoning Fine Art, Ashbourne,
2002-2004 View Two Gallery, Liverpool,
2003 – 2004 Modern Artists Gallery, Pangbourne,
2003 Mosaic Gallery, Buxton 2002 – 2003
2003 Churnet Contemporary Arts, Leek
Collections
Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong
De Villeneuve Collection Holland
Steve Shaw Collection, Los Angeles
Glaxo Smith Kline Corporate Collection
MA European Fine Art, Winchester School of Art
2000 BA (Hons) Fine Art, University of Derby
1999 Solo Exhibition, The Elements, James Freeman Gallery
2012 Myth & Nature, Sesame Gallery, London
The Sublime 2006 Tregoning Fine Art, Ashbourne
2004 Makers of Marks, James Freeman Gallery
2018 Lost & Found, James Freeman Gallery
2015 The Winter Garden, James Freeman Gallery
60% Water, James Freeman Gallery
The Great Outdoors, James Freeman Gallery
2011 John Moores Contemporary Painting Prize, Walker Museum, Liverpool,
2010 – 11 KIAF, Seoul, South Korea,
2010 Wunderkammer, Sesame Gallery, London,
2010 Tregoning Contemporary, Derby,
2010 SCOPE Basel, Switzerland,
2009 Art Daegu South Korea, 2009
2009 SCOPE Art Fair, London, 2008
” Regroup”, Sesame Gallery, London 2008
Sesame Salon 2008, London The Sesame Salon 2006,
2007 London Blindart Finalist
2006 AAF London, 2005 – 8 London Art Fair, Islington,
2005 ” Sterling Stuff” group show with Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley, Lynn Chadwick and others, Tregoning Fine Art, Ashbourne,
2002-2004 View Two Gallery, Liverpool,
2003 – 2004 Modern Artists Gallery, Pangbourne,
2003 Mosaic Gallery, Buxton 2002 – 2003
2003 Churnet Contemporary Arts, Leek
Collections
Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong
De Villeneuve Collection Holland
Steve Shaw Collection, Los Angeles
Glaxo Smith Kline Corporate Collection
