Oliver Bevan exhibit and talk

The American University of Paris Fine Art Gallery will exhibit the paintings of the English artist, Oliver Bevan, from March 19 through April 7. Mr Bevan will give a talk on his work March 19 at 17:00 in the Combes building, room C102, folowed by the opening of the exhibition.

Oliver Bevan was born in Peterborough (UK) in 1941. He trained at the Royal College of Art in London alongside David Hockney, Patrick Caulfield and Derek Boshier. Impressed by the originality of Vasarely’s innovative polychrome installations, he turned in 1964 towards optical art, then kinetics with considerable success. In 1977 despite continuing critical approval he completely revised his position and left for Canada to take up a teaching post in Fine Art at the University of Saskatchewan. Far from home and swept along by a culture in which anything seemed possible, he walked in the countryside, let himself go and with a greater degree of spontaneity, produced several series of gouaches, collages and other abstract works.

Back in London in 1979, he rediscovered the city, on foot with his camera. His photographs were taken up by the Photographers' Gallery in London. For a time he hesitated between painting and photography, but finally his love of painting triumphed.

Choosing the city as his preferred field of action, the area round the Barbican offered him a variety of subjects. In 1982 he started his "Subjective City" series, The apparent ordinariness of a supermarket fascinated him. More attracted by the sombre aspect of the city than by the aesthetic, he differentiated himself from Modernism through his choice of subjects. The sense of conflict in the city, the noise, and the seething crowds: all of these inspired him.

Having lived for the last fifteen years in Uzès in the Gard (South of France) Oliver Bevan has never stopped painting the city whether it be London, Paris, Siena, Barcelona, or Venice.

Read more about Oliver Bevan on his website.