Biography

Through a range of subjects usually rooted in history and tradition, Charlie Billingham’s practice honors and questions painting and its legacy, simultaneously. Accordingly, he looks to personal and shared experiences as a source for his visual concepts. His imagery often derives from satirical prints of the late 18th and early 19th century, now redefined by a 21st century appropriation. His technical approach focuses on pigment, texture, and surface. He uses acrylic, oil, or both, applying the paint to polyester, linen, tapestry, canvas, or wood panel, depending on his desired outcome. Beyond his broad understanding of the medium, his gestures and compositions demonstrate how painting possesses the ability to be completely subjective. Charlie Billingham (b. 1984, London, UK) lives and works in London, UK. He completed his joint honors MA at the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh College of Art in 2008, and received a postgraduate degree from the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2013. His work has been included in several group exhibitions, such as Febreeze, at Kinman Gallery, London, UK (2013); New Order: British Art Today, at Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2013); Clay Pipe, at Galerie HFBK, Hamburg, Germany (2013); Open Heart Surgery, at The Moving Museum, London, UK (2013); Forever Now, Capodimonte Museum, Naples, Italy (2014); and The Word Today Serves No One Except To Say To The Grocer Give Me A Pound Of Lentils, Supportico Lopez, Berlin, Germany (2014). His work is in permanent collections at Saatchi Collection, London, UK; Ramin Salsali Private Museum, Dubai, UAE; Franks-Suss Collection, London, UK; and HSBC Collection, London, UK.