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Andrew Cranston

Andrew Cranston’s figurative paintings are steeped in atmosphere; their fragments of narrative quickly dissolving into dreamlike visions of objects awash in colour, shape and texture. His works often depict domestic interior spaces – in a not-so-distant echo of the arrangements of classical still lives – but where such ordinary things as windows, items of furniture, and ornaments become conduits for far more uncanny formal explorations. Abandoned tables, libraries, tents and private chambers are just some of the scenes in which Cranston’s expansive imagination takes shape, drawing from his lifelong interest in storytelling through colour and form. His works take two distinct formats: large scale canvases worked in distemper and oil, and smaller paintings executed directly on hardback book covers. Often his paintings revel in a single colour field, whether oceanic blues, ruddy ochres, or blazing scarlets, within which his dreamlike worlds unfurl through the expressive treatment of surfaces. Their atmospheres flicker between the private and the theatrical, the picturesque and the chaotic, abundance and solitude, each in their own way beckoning the viewer deeper into their worlds.

Andrew Cranston was born in Hawick in 1969, and lives and works in Glasgow, Scotland. His work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield (2023); Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2023); Modern Art, London (2022). Group exhibitions include: ‘The Moth and the Thunder clap, Modern Art, London (2023); ‘The Inner Island’, Villa Carmignac (2023); ‘Dreamhome’, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney (2022) the Royal Academy, London (2022); Jerwood Gallery, Hastings (2019). Cranston’s works are held in collections including: TATE; Scottish National Gallery; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; ICA Miami; LACMA, Los Angeles; the Portland Art Museum; and the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.

Press
Biography
Stay with me, my nerves are bad tonight, the midges too, 2022 (detail)
Those who hide well, live well, 2022
distemper on canvas, 210.5 x 150.5 cm, 82 7/8 x 59 1/4 in
1/3
Pause, 2022
oil and varnish on hardback book cover, 18.5 x 16.5 cm, 7 1/4 x 6 1/2 in
1/2
Stay with me, my nerves are bad tonight, the midges too, 2022
distemper and oil on canvas, 170.3 x 130.2 cm 67 1/8 x 51 1/4 in
1/3
Why Have You Stopped Here?, 2023
distemper on canvas, 204.1 x 264.4 cm, 80 3/8 x 104 1/8 in
1/2
Scene from a marriage, 2021
oil on hardback book cover, 26 x 22 cm, 10 1/4 x 8 5/8 in
1/2
Weird Light, 2022
distemper and oil on canvas, 190 x 140.2 cm, 74 3/4 x 55 1/4 in
1/3
Games People Play, 2022
oil and varnish on hardback book cover, 22 x 15 cm, 8 5/8 x 5 7/8 in
1/2
Something of the Night, 2021
distemper on canvas, 180 x 210 cm, 70 7/8 x 82 5/8 in
1/2
Aberdeen Studio (My Blue Period), 2023
distemper on canvas, 212.9 x 182.4 cm, 83 7/8 x 71 3/4 in
1/2
En passant, 2022
oil and varnish on hardback book cover, 24.5 x 17.5 cm, 9 5/8 x 6 7/8 in
1/2
Dangerous days, 2022
distemper on canvas, 200 x 150.2 cm, 78 3/4 x 59 1/8 in
1/4
a huge echo a huge echo, 2023
oil and varnish on hardback book cover, 31.2 x 23.5 cm, 12 1/4 x 9 1/4 in
1/3
Now it’s come to distances, 2024
oil on hardback book cover, 26 x 21 cm, 10 1/4 x 8 1/4 in
1/4
Rudy and Dolly, 2024
oil on hardback book cover, 23 x 17.2 cm, 9 x 6 3/4 in
1/3
As I lay dozing, 2024
oil on hardback book cover, 24 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 9 1/2 x 6 1/4 x 1 in
1/4
Thoughts from under the floorboards, Modern Art, 2024
What made you stop here?, Hepworth Wakefield, 2023

Press

Financial TimesThe late-bloom success of Lorna Robertson and Andrew Cranston, 24 January 2024
GuardianWhat made you stop here? - review’, 14 January 2024
Studio InternationalAndrew Cranston – interview: ‘Trust in things around you being the stuff of art', 12 January 2024
FriezeThe Off-Beat, Dreamlike World of Andrew Cranston, 11 January 2024
Wallpaper*Step into Andrew Cranston’s magical take on mundanity at The Hepworth Wakefield, 1 December 2023
PlasterAndrew Cranston on “destroying one thing to create another', 1 November 2023
Apollo‘The cover stories of Andrew Cranston’, 1 October 2023
CulturedBattleships, Fish Ponds, and Walled Gardens: Inside Scottish Artist Andrew Cranston’s Reverie of a Solo Show, 3 August 2023
ApolloFull of make-believe and making do: the art of Andrew Cranston, 1 August 2023
OculaAndrew Cranston in the Studio, 1 June 2023
The Paris ReviewPainting Backward: A Conversation with Andrew Cranston, 21 March 2022
Artist ProfileOrdinary Things That Glow, 1 February 2022
Brooklyn Rail1 July 2021

Biography

Andrew Cranston

Born in Hawick, 1969 Lives and works in Glasgow Since 2009, RSA (Elect), Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh

Education

1994-1996
Master of Painting
Royal College of Art, London
1990-1993
BA (Hons) Fine Art
Grays School of Art, Aberdeen
1989-1990
Manchester Polytechnic
Manchester

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2024
Thoughts from under the floorboards
Modern Art, Paris, France
One day this will be a long time ago
Karma, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Etchings
Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow
2023
What Made You Stop Here?Hepworth Wakefield, Wakefield
Never a joiner
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
2022
If you see something that doesn’t look right
Modern Art, London
2021
Waiting for the Bell
Karma, New York, NY, USA
2018
But the dream had no sound
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
2017
If I was a Carpenter and other stories
Wilkinson Gallery, London
2016
Henderson Blyth’s Drawer
Look Again: Visual Art and Design Festival, Aberdeen
Paintings from a room
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
Upper Church Gallery
Summerhall, Edinburgh
2015
Rob Tufnell
London
2014
Who is this who is coming?
Display Gallery, London
2010
What to do after a death in Scotland
Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin, Germany
In Büro
Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2009
What a Man Does in the Privacy of His Own Attic is His Affair
International Project Space, Bourneville College, Birmingham
2002
Mappin Art Gallery
Sheffield
2000
Stoorsooker
Royal Scottish Academy of Art, Edinburgh
1998
Happy Hunting Ground
Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen

Selected Group Exhibitions

2024
The Infinite WomanFondation Carmignac, Hyères, France
Frontiers: Painting in Scotland NowThe Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
A Particular Kind of Heaven
70 Main Street, Thomaston, ME, USA
Ghosts in Sunlight
Thirsk Hall Sculpture Garden, Thirsk
XXX
Studio Voltaire, London
Drawing Biennial 2024Drawing Room, London
2023
Paris
Modern Art, Paris, France
The Inner IslandVilla Carmignac, Porquerolles, France
The Painted Room
curated by Caroline Walker, GRIMM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Moth and the Thunderclap, curated by Simon Grant
Modern Art, London
Twenty-five
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
2022
To be a giant and keep quiet about it
Margot Samel, New York, NY, USA
2021
Faces in the Water
Ingleby Gallery/Cromwell Place, London
On Leaving
Modern Art, London
Dear John
Adams and Ollman, Portland, OR, USA
2020
HOME
Ingleby, Edinburgh
(Nothing But) Flowers
Karma, New York, NY, USA
2019
Brexit: Mail Art from a Small Island
Sipgate Shows, Dusseldorf, Germany
Du Coq A L’ane
Le Bel Ordinaire, Pau, France
Painters Beach Club: Telescope
Jerwood Gallery, Hastings
2018
TWENTY
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
Zeros to Heroes: The Beta Band Archive
J Hammond Projects, London
Lovers and other Spectres
Kingsgate Project Space, London
2016
Outside, curated by Matthew Higgs
Karma, Amagansett, NY, USA
2014
Mac International
Mac Arts Centre, Belfast
2013
Between the Late and Early
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
2012
John Moores Painting Prize
Walker Art Gallery
Dorian Gray
Second Guest Projects and Ana Christea Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2011
Hurricane Lamb
Duff House, Banff, Canada
Courtesy of Objects, guest artist in Marc Camille Chaimowitz exhibition
Norwich Gallery, Norwich
2009
EAST International
Norwich Gallery, Norwich
2007
This Dark Ceiling
Intermedia Gallery, C.C.A, Glasgow
2008
Interieur
Ute Parduhn Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany
2007
EAST International
Norwich Gallery, Norwich
2003
Oriel Mostyn 13
Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno
Sometime Blonde
Rockwell, London
1999
In the Summertime
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh
Poster Show
Gavin Brown’s Enterprise, New York, USA, travelled to: Cabinet Gallery, London

Selected Awards and Residences

2014
The Arts Foundation Fellowship for Painting
2013
Creative Scotland Quality Arts Production Award
2009
Scottish Arts Council Artists Award
2008
Creative Development Award, Scottish Arts Council
2006
WASPS / Dusseldorf artists exchange Residency, Dusseldorf, Germany
1993
Natwest Prize for Art

Selected Collections

Aishti Foundation
Antelias, Lebanon
Arenski Collection
London
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Sydney, Australia
Artemis Collection
Paris, France
The Bunker Collection
George Economou Collection
Athens, Greece
Hall Art Foundation
Reading, VT, USA
Hawick Museum
Hawick
He Art Museum
Foshan, Guangdong, China
The Hepworth Wakefield
Wakefield
Hiscox Collection
London
Huamo Museum
Suzhou, Jiangsu, China
Institute of Contemporary Art
Miami, FL, USA
LACMA
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Loewe Foundation
Madrid, Spain
MAXXI Museum
Rome, Italy
National Gallery of Scotland
Edinburgh
Portland Art Museum
Portland, OR, USA
Robert Gordon University
Aberdeen
Royal College of Art
London
Royal Scottish Academy of Art and Architecture
Edinburgh
Tate
London
Unilever Collection
London