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The Michael
Gutteridge
Gallery Logo
Car Park by the Ashton Canal
Lowry Hotel & Bridge
Lowry at Dusk
The Peveril of the Peak
Manchester Skyline Looking North-East
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Michael
Gutteridge
The Artist
Michael Gutteridge
was born in Manchester, grew up in Manchester, and now lives in
Manchester, pretty much, therefore, living the legend as appeared
on the famous 'identity' T-shirts of the Madchester era.
Although he has painted all his life, he only began to take it
up more seriously in 2001, when, after submitting a painting in
the 2000 Open Exhibition at Stockport Art Gallery, he was invited
by them to present a full exhibition of some 20 paintings the
following year. Since then, he has continued to develop and explore
his own unique vision which involves trying to capture some of
the excitement and other emotions evoked by the architecturally
eclectic, peculiarly vibrant city he lives in. As he says:
"'Whenever
I walk around Manchester I get so excited by many of the buildings,
streets and skylines I see, that I at least want to photograph
them, but more specifically crave to capture some of that emotionally
stimulating impression in paint where I can represent more of
it and less of the physical actuality the camera records.
As a part of this process I put any reproduced scene through
interesting forms of derangement expressed via colour, brushwork,
proportionality, shapes, perspective, innate harmonious relationships,
energy, and an eclectic juxtaposition of styles. Basically,
everything short of throwing in the kitchen sink! Sometimes,
I am specifically trying to convey existentially disorientating
feelings through these techniques and other times just a general
sensual vibrancy."
As well as
an organisation of colour, shapes, angles, proportion, and techniques,
he is interested in an elusive quality he calls 'nervous energy',
which he believes can be conveyed by any given artist through
brushwork in much the same way as everybody's handwriting is unique
to themselves and expresses something of their own personality
and emotional state whilst writing it. More recently, he has developed
his ideas into a whole new area where the techniques themselves
assume centre stage.
"'I
am now preocupied with the act of painting in its own right
and therefore am not so much painting whatever scene I see,
but more painting an actual painting of that scene, as though
the art work itself and not the subject matter, were the crucial
thing.
Thus, visible brushwork may not necessarily be an attempt to
paint any given thing, but may be an attempt to draw attention
to brushwork and references to the art of painting itself."
As well as being inspired by the City of Manchester itself, his
other influences include LS Lowry, Chaim Soutine, Carel Weight,
Edvard Munch, and even Walt Disney.
A selection
of Michael Gutteridge's work, including some of that which was
exhibited at Stockport Art Gallery in 2001-2, can be viewed at
the painter's online gallery at www.michaelgutteridge.com.
For further
information or enquiries, he can be contacted by email at mg@michaelgutteridge.com
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