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Simon Gales (born 1964) is a contemporary British artist and painter of limited output who destroys much of his work. He exhibits mainly in London and France.


Life and work

Simon Gales was born in Polstead,
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in 1964. He studied art at
Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a Member institutions of the University of London, constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The G ...
under Jon Thompson and achieved the joint highest mark graduating alongside
Gary Hume Gary Stewart Hume (born 9 May 1962) is an English artist. Hume's work is strongly identified with the YBA who came to prominence in the early 1990s. Hume lives and works in London and Accord, New York.
and Ian Davenport in the YBA year of 1988. The following year he was selected as one of 25 'Christies New Contemporaries' that included Mark Francis and Glenn Brown in a highly publicised show at the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
where six works from his degree show were to be auctioned by
Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...
in what was to be the first auction of young contemporary artists by a major auction house. The show attracted media attention and his work was featured in the '' Telegraph Weekend Colour Supplement'' as well as the '' BBC 1 O'Clock News''; the auction surpassed expectations making £500,000 with Gales's selling for over four times the estimate. This led him to be commissioned by London Transport for which he painted ''Childhood'' a painting
London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or as the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent home counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Undergro ...
used to publicise the
V&A Museum of Childhood Young V&A, formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A"), which is the United Kingdom's national museum of applied arts. It is in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, and specialises in obje ...
at Bethnal Green. 6,000 full sized posters were printed for underground stations with a further 3,000 smaller ones for the escalators. Gales's early metaphysical works incited him to be included in a number of largely conceptual exhibitions such as ''A Spiritual Dimension'' in 1989, a major touring exhibition organised by
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery houses the historical and art collections of the city of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, England. Managed by Vivacity on behalf of the city council, it is part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership. Histo ...
along with former Goldsmiths tutors Brian Falconbridge, Michael Kenny and Carl Plackman and including Craigie Aitchison,
Tess Jaray Tess Jaray (born 1937) is a British painter and printmaker. She taught at The Slade School of Fine Art, UCL from 1968 until 1999. Over the last twenty years Jaray has completed a succession of major public art projects. She was made an Honorary ...
and Bob Law and supported by works from the
Arts Council Collection The Arts Council Collection is a national loan collection of modern and contemporary British art. It was founded in 1946. The collection continues to acquire works each year. The Arts Council Collection reaches its audience through loans to publ ...
as well as that of the Royal Academy. Due to the small scale of Gales's works at this time, he was invited again from 1991–1992 to show with Craigie Aitchison in another touring exhibition which was curated by Gillian Jason called ''Cabinet Paintings'' which also included
Frank Auerbach Frank Helmut Auerbach (29 April 1931 – 11 November 2024) was a German-born British painter. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, he became a naturalised British subject in 1947. He is considered one of the leading names in the School of Lo ...
,
Howard Hodgkin Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin (6 August 1932 – 9 March 2017) was a British painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with abstraction. Early life Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin was born on 6 August 1932 in Hammersmith, Londo ...
,
Euan Uglow Euan Ernest Richard Uglow (10 March 1932 – 31 August 2000) was a British painter. He is best known for his nude and still life paintings, such as ''German Girl'' and ''Skull''. Born in London, he studied at the Camberwell School of Art. His i ...
and Sarah Raphael. Gales had a series of solo and joint exhibitions notably at the Jill George Gallery in 1990 and later at The Bruton Street Gallery, London in 1999, 2001 which sold out and again in 2003 at which point the gallery closed down. Gales's interest in
metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
was due to the influence of initial tutorials with Jon Thompson at Goldsmiths, particularly in regards to the role of intuition. "He put into my head that an extra dimension could be explored beneath the surface of a subject." This resulted in a long series of metaphysical paintings that have more recently undergone some radical changes from spare, singular, kinetic images of varying focus through to carefully designed minimal works bordering on abstraction. These latter pieces are often painted on rectangular panels, the smaller one attached as if floating in front of the larger, casting real shadows that constantly change according to the light. These shadows interplay with the painted image so that the painting becomes a physical reality in the space of the spectator.


Description of his works

He talks about his fascination with greys that is evident in the scull painting.


Museum, public gallery, project space summary

* ''États d’âmes'' 2022 10 years retrospective of the FDAC Collection,
Château de Biron The Château de Biron is a castle in the valley of the Lède in the ''Communes of France, commune'' of Biron, Dordogne, Biron in the Dordogne ''Departments of France, département'' of France. History It was the castle from which the Gontaut-Bi ...
, France * ''Simon Gales Off Limits'' 2019 (The Factory exhibition space, Factory Fifteen):- The Factory, London * ''Les Ambassadeurs'' 2019 (with Jane Harris and Jiri Kratochvil, Espace d'Art Contemporain L'Artboretum):- Moulin du Rabois, Argenton sur Creuse, France * ''Alive In The Universe'' 2019 (1 minute films, Caroline Wiseman Modern & Contemporary):- Palazzo Pesaro Papafava,
58th Venice Biennale The 58th Venice Biennale was an international contemporary art exhibition held between May and November 2019. The Venice Biennale takes place biennially in Venice, Italy. Artistic director Ralph Rugoff curated its central exhibition, ''May You ...
* ''FDAC Collection 2018'' 2019 (Fonds Departmental d'Art Contemporain):- Espace Culturel François Mitterrand, Périgueux, France * ''Cabinet Paintings'' 1991-92 (Gillian Jason Gallery, London):-
Hove Museum and Art Gallery Hove Museum of Creativity is a municipally-owned museum in the town of Hove, which is part of the larger city of Brighton and Hove in the South East of England. The museum is part of Brighton & Hove Museums, and admission is free. Opened in 1927 ...
, Sussex;
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is the public art gallery of the City and County of Swansea, in Wales, United Kingdom. The gallery is situated in Alexandra Road, near Swansea railway station, opposite the old Swansea Central Library. History The ...
, Swansea, Wales * ''Childhood'' 1991 (London Underground,
V&A Museum of Childhood Young V&A, formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A"), which is the United Kingdom's national museum of applied arts. It is in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, and specialises in obje ...
, London):-
London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of Transport in London, London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the histo ...
* ''A Spiritual Dimension'' 1989-90 (Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, Arts Council):Dr August K Wiedmann 'A Spiritual Dimension' published by Peterborough City Council 1989 .-
Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery houses the historical and art collections of the city of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, England. Managed by Vivacity on behalf of the city council, it is part of the Greater Fens Museum Partnership. Histo ...
;
Herbert Art Gallery and Museum Herbert Art Gallery & Museum (also known as the Herbert) is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre, media studio and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, England. Overview The museum is named after Alfred Herbert, ...
, Coventry; Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum; Winchester Gallery,
Winchester School of Art Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England. History Winchester School of Art (WSA) was founded in 1 ...
; Wolsey Gallery,
Christchurch Mansion Christchurch Mansion is a substantial Tudor brick mansion house built in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, by Edmund Withypoll (also written "Withipoll") around 1548–1550. The Grade I listed building is located within Christchurch Park and sits b ...
, Ipswich; Shipley Art Gallery,Gateshead * ''Christie's New Contemporaries'' 1989 (Christie's):-
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
, London


References


External links


Artist's official websiteCaroline Wiseman Modern & ContemporarygettyimagesFDAC Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gales, Simon 1964 births Living people People from Polstead British contemporary painters Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London British male artists