The Skaters Painting

Simon Wilde started to paint in the 1980s in a back room of the Barbara Braathen Gallery in New York. At the time he was working for several art galleries and as an artist’s assistant. He later studied at the New York Studio School and Falmouth College of Art. He currently lives and works in the UK. Wilde says, “there is an undefined magic in this world which is impossible to define with language or science. Somehow painting seems to be able to capture its essence. It is this feeling that I am trying to express in my work. A spiritual world that is deep within and around us all. A world that is all too easy to dismiss in our modern existence; even though it is at the core of the mystery of what we are. Giotto di Bondone said that every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbour. It is in this spirit that I hope to create a space where the viewer can touch upon the mystery and magic within themselves”. In Wilde’s work layers of paint are built up and scratched back creating a visual archaeology of colour and form which acts as a gateway to apparition. Mystical figures and magical landscapes emerge from the paint encouraging a discourse with the viewer. Wilde has exhibited in New York, London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Cornwall, Devon and throughout the UK.