Ashley Hanson

Colour..,landscape.., imagination.., perfectly describes the work of painter Ashley Hanson, a former prizewinner in the Hunting Art Prizes.  His current work is inspired by both Cornwall where he lives and his journey around the United States on a Boise Travel Scholarship from the Slade.  His vibrant, intensely worked oil paintings are intriguing amalgams of imagery and the unique shape of each place. He is particularly drawn to coastal towns with their mix of the natural and the man-made.  

‘In my paintings I try and define the essence of a place, I often work in series, the paintings feeding each other, allowing all possibilities to be explored. There is a magic moment in each painting when the paint gains an identity and I have a language I can believe in.  My philosophy is ‘mistrust what you know’, my ambition is to find something new in each painting and make a piece that has both vitality and integrity.’ 

Ashley has exhibited widely in the UK and his solo exhibitions include ‘Americascapes’ in 2003 and ‘The Englands’ in April 2008, where he interlinked the coastal landscape of Cornwall and New England. He has work in private collections in the UK, Europe and USA.  

2009 Modern Artists Gallery, Berkshire
2008 DEC Campden Gallery, The Cotswolds 
2008 NOV Morley Contemporary Art, Cornwall 
2008 AUG Thompson’s Gallery, London 
2008 AUG Padstow Fine Art Gallery, Cornwall 
2008 JUNE   Sarah Wiseman Gallery, Oxford 
2008 JUNE Somerville Gallery, Plymouth, Devon 
2008 MAY ‘Cornwall Open Studio’s’ 
2008 APRIL ‘The Englands’ Modern Artists Gallery
2008 ‘March Exhibition’, Innocent Fine Art, Bristol 
2007 Christmas show, Innocent Fine Art, Bristol 
2007 Cry of the Gulls Gallery, Brighton
2007 Padstow Fine Art, Padstow, Cornwall 
2007 Cry of the Gulls Gallery, Fowey, Cornwall
2007 Summer Exhibition, Shire Hall Gallery
2007 'States of Colour’, Shire Hall Gallery
2007 Group Show, Vitreous Contemporary Art, Truro 
2005 The Dentists Surgery, City of London  
2003 The Yard Gallery, East Dulwich, London