Work of Andrew Crane

Andrew Crane

Artist Statement

Born: 1949 in London, United Kingdom, Andrew trained at The Central School of Art and Design in graphics and typography, and it was here that he developed a love for letters and numbers. You see them in his paintings, where they strut like ‘characters’ on a stage, telling a story in paint.

He is not averse to using unusual materials to make a painting. When under pressure to complete a work for a show, he spotted a bag of cement in his makeshift studio. Mixing it up with PVA he plastered it over the surface of the painting and found, to his surprise, that not only was it resilient and pliable, but welcomed paint to its surface. You will see examples of ‘cement pieces’ in this show.

Living in Northumberland, Andrew admits the landscape is hard to ignore. Indeed, he lives on the very path that John Martin (19th Century Romantic Painter) would walk for inspiration. Although Andrew’s landscapes are rarely ‘representational’ of any place, the influence of his surroundings, steeped in history, is prevalent in the work.

Andrew’s work has been exhibited across the UK and Europe in solo and group shows. He is represented at Gallery 151 in Brussels and is a member of Contemporary British Painting, showing with the Group as far afield as China.