Artists Statement
Kevin Broughton & Fiona Birnie live and work in London, collaborating since 2003. Working together as a single entity they explore the subversive, the chaotic, the carnivalesque fragmentation and topsy turvy mirroring of society.
Recently painting has dominated their practice, a process at odds with our fast internet consumption of images but akin to two people working on the same canvas. This is at the core of their collaboration as a constant conversation of reediting and reworking of paintings happens over a long period of time. Each painting takes a journey of hoovering up references and fragments from the internet and the daily life of two people rather than one, each having an individual perspective to work on the painting without planning or conversing during its production. This process promotes the unpredictable and often absurd juxtapositions of figuration and abstractions, not unlike a google search engine.
Dark humour haunts every aspect of the work, carnivalesque colours and figuration slip between depiction and invention. The constant conversation of elements butting up against each other and shifting the dynamics play out on the canvas, resulting in an ongoing conversation and celebration of the heroic tragedy of the human condition when confronted by a dystopian world state of mind.
Education: Kevin Broughton 1987 – 1990 – West Surrey College of Art & Design – B.A Degree in Fine Art Painting 1992 – 1994 – Royal College of Art – M.A Degree in Painting Fiona Birnie 1985 – 1988 – Exeter College of Art & Design – B.A Degree in Photography SOLO EXIBITIONS 2020 – ‘Our Current State’ Thames-Side Gallery, London 2018 – ‘Recent Paintings’ The Viewing Space, Thames-side Studios, London 2018 – ‘The Plotters’ Coffeeisourcupoftea space, Dalston, London 2017 – ‘Our Ever-Expanding Distance from Disaster’, Rum Factory Project Space, Wapping, London 2015 – ‘Absurd Monuments’, Street Installation, Paris 2014 – ‘The Last Party on the Titanic’, Bow Arts, 46 Willow Walk, London 2013 – ‘BERLIN: The Forger’s Tale – The Quest for Fame & Fortune’, WW Gallery, London 2012 – ‘BERLIN: The Forger’s Tale’, The Crypt Gallery, Euston, London 2011 – ‘The Procession’, Vyner Street Gallery, London 2011 – ‘State of Play’, The Old Police Station, Deptford SELECTED GROUP EXIBITIONS 2023 – An eXhibition of SMALL things with BIG ideas, White Conduit Projects, London UK 2023 – The Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London UK 2023 – Breaking the Narrative Thames-Side Gallery, London UK 2023 – Lido Open 2023 Lido Stores, Margate UK 2022 – A Generous Space 2, The New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK 2022 – Beep International 2022, Elysium Gallery, Swansea, Wales, UK 2020 – A Generous Space, Hastings Contemporary, Hastings – Artist Support Exhibition 2021 – Without Borders, Elysium Gallery, Swansea – travelling to Japan, Norway, USA, Venice, 2020 – ME, MYSELF AND I, Collyer Bristow Gallery, London, UK 2020 – Be Seeing You, Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany 2020 – To Paint the Gloom Itself, Terrace Gallery, London, UK 2019 – Collaborate, Swiss Cottage Library Gallery, London, UK 2018 – You Are Here, Stockport War Museum Memorial Art Gallery, Stockport, UK 2018 – 2011 Secret, RCA, London, UK 2017 – Painting [Now] 2017, Studio One Gallery, London, UK 2016 – Bad Behavior , Brixton East, London, UK 2015-17 Summer Salon, Angus Hughes Gallery, London, UK 2015 – Lucy in the Sky, Transition Gallery, London, UK 2014 – Collaborated with The Frank Bobbins Institute, Sluice Exchange Rates, New York 2013 – Sluice London – representing WW Gallery, London, UK 2013 – Beastly So and So, Royal Standard Gallery, Liverpool, UK 2013 – Discernable, ZAP, London, UK 2012 – Art Club, The Red Gallery, London, UK 2012 – Curious Pursuits, The Portico Library Gallery, Manchester, UK 2011 – Drawing Connections, Siena Art Institute, Siena, Italy 2010 – Art of Giving, Saatchi Gallery, London, UK 2009 – London Art Fair, London, UK 2007-8 – Start Your Collection – Contemporary Art Projects, London, UK 2006 – Summer Exhibition – Contemporary Art Projects, London, UK 2005 – Mountain – Site Specific Installation – 9 St. Gerards Close, London, UK 2005 – Black Bile – Three Colts Gallery, London, UK 2002 – Snapshot – Seven–Seven Gallery, London, UK 2001–11 RCA Secret – Royal College of Art, London, UK 2001 – Bedsit – Baches Street, London, UK COLLECTIONS Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK R.C.A. London, UK Private Collections in – USA, Netherlands, UK, Saudi Arabia, Germany,