Li River & Kursts - Guangxi, China (2020) Painting

Born in Melton Mowbray, England, Whiteman graduated as a sculptor at Leicester Polytechnic in 1983 and moved to Madrid, Spain in 1991 where he lives and works today. Widely known for the ‘Living Sculptures’ he first developed as a student in 1982. They explore the relationship between the human figure and constructed environment and have since then been exhibited, collected and commissioned around the world. His paintings are more personal, intimate, revealing his passion for colour, light and landscape. Until recently they have remained in private hands, generously supported by a close circle of friends, family and collectors. His recent work sets out to explore through colour and light the land forms and textures he encounters capturing the spirit of a place rather than specific detail. They offer us that first glimpse as we turn our head, before we have time to focus on a scene that might be unexpected, breathtaking and beautiful, strong enough to both arouse attention and heighten our senses. Like most British artists, his approach reflects a formative training and strong narrative in European Art juxtaposed with a desire to question everything, experiment and push the boundaries of representation. In his own words ‘I see to create and create to see’ draws upon his formal training by leading artists, each contributed towards laying a solid foundation of good practice, research and clear vision. Only when the rules are understood can they be broken and experimentation unleashed; the rule book respectfully riped up or rewritten. The only limit is your imagination and the only ‘new’ rule is there are no rules! His approach to ideas has never taken the most direct or obvious route, afterall, that hardly ever leads to exciting imagery or break through discoveries. To give one example, whilst preparating to start a major stone carving (1981) he made many observation drawings, plaster maquettes and photographs. Nothing unusual about that until it was revealed that he was the model cacooned in Lycra in the photographic series ‘Tension’ (1981). They provided what he needed to complete the stone carving and openned the door to a completely new creative process by simplifying the human form and removing its identity, it also transformed the live sculptural model into the new object of his work.