Norman Long: solo show at the Osborne Studio Gallery, 21st April

Norman Long Show

ABOVE Last Train, oil on board, 10x12cm; Finding Themselves in Berkeley Square, oil on board, 35x51cm

Preston-born Norman Long has created a body of new work over the last fifteen months to be exhibited in his forthcoming London solo show – the prize for being crowned Artists and Illustrators Artist of the Year 2013. The Osborne Studio Gallery’s director, Geoffrey Hughes, gave Norman Long the freedom to focus the exhibition on a subject of his choosing, leading to a selection of forty paintings depicting the human side of London city life, each suggesting a delicate little drama beneath the surface.

Norman undertook a number of journeys from the northwest of England to the capital, inspired by what he calls “the buzz of humanity”. The smaller works were painted directly on site, to capture the excitement of his immediate response to the setting, and later inspired the larger studio pieces. During this studio process, Norman focused less on an accurate depiction of the location than the feeling of it, saying “light, people and relationships are my primary concerns. Yet I know if you, the viewer, can identify with a location in my painting, you will connect to it in a much stronger way. So I’ve tried to include just a suggestion, something to trigger that recognition. What I don’t want is for you to identify the location and walk away.”

Working in his studio, often in isolation, Norman developed techniques for motivating himself, saying “starting paintings is relatively easy. The real challenge is maintaining that excitement once the possibilities have narrowed.” He often only works on a painting for two or three hours to avoid over-thinking it. “It’s much easier to see what a painting needs when you’re not overly familiar with it. I have them stacked facing the wall because I can’t stand to look at them. So when I go in in the morning and leaf through them, I may glimpse one and think, ‘I know what that needs.’ I could have 35 paintings on the go at one time.”

Norman studied the traditional techniques of fine art from 1995 until 2009, gaining a BA from Newcastle University and Post Baccalaureate from renowned Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. His portraits, fleeting encounters, cityscapes and still lifes have been exhibited in more than thirty group and solo shows from 1995 until 2014: in UK galleries, especially Manchester and London, as well as Philadelphia and New York City. The mini dramas he describes so skilfully in paint have been described as a ‘longing for connection’ and the solitary figures as ‘loaded with the awareness of the viewer’s gaze.’

Norman Long at the Osborne Studio Gallery SW1X 8JU, 21^st April – 8^th May 2015

Norman Long Show