STEPHEN FINER, Paintings and Watercolours

About

Stephen Finer's paintings take the study of the human head or figure as their subject. Some he names others not, but throughout his motive is to search for identity and character and to reveal something more contemplative and more profound than immediate likeness. Apart from a group of mostly post-card sized watercolours, the works included are all oil on canvas; some are dense and heavily painted, the surface worked and reworked, some more spontaneous, some are very dramatic and grave, others shine gem-like. Throughout, the paint is laid on with a vigour and directness that probes the limits between representation and the abstract qualities of paint and although we may not always be able to identify individual features there is a conspicuous and specific human presence. Finer is secretive about his way of working. He resists discussion about his aims and methods. We don't know if he makes preparatory drawings or studies but it seems that he knows, or has close human contact with each of them, and that this relationship is an inalienable part of his activity as a painter. Stephen Finer was born in 1949. His work has been exhibited regularly in London and abroad since the eighties, including numerous prestigious group shows: Collazione Inglese II, VeniceBiennale, 1985 and the National Portrait Gallery exhibitions: The National Portrait Gallery Collects - 2003, Painting the Century, 101 Portrait Masterpieces - 2001 and The Portrait Now 1993. He has work in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery, The British Council, Arts Council and the Contemporary Art Society together with museums and private collections in the Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Switzerland and the USA. A 16 page catalogue with 12 full colour plates is available. A selection of the work can be viewed on-line at: www.artspacegallery.co.uk