Gary Hume is known for figurative and abstract paintings on aluminum panels, which often feature startling color combinations made with paints purchased premixed from a hardware store. Hume's first one-person exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery, in 1992, his first in the United States, included five of his signature Door paintings. His next exhibition at the gallery marked a decisive shift towards figuration and included such iconic works as Begging For It and The Polar Bear. Hume (b. 1962) attended Goldsmiths College in London. He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1999 and the Bienal de São Paulo in 1996, the same year he was nominated for the Turner Prize. His work was the subject of a one-person exhibition at Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, in 1999, and in 2001 he was elected to the Royal Academy. Monographic shows of Hume's work were organized at the Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, and the Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, in 2004, and Modern Art Oxford mounted a survey show of his Door paintings in 2008. In 2013, Tate Britain presented a focused survey spanning Hume’s career that explores the breadth and vitality of his work. Hume has been represented by Matthew Marks Gallery since 1992. Hume currently lives and works in London and Accord, New York.