Alec Cumming

Alec Cumming draws inspiration from a global map of experiences, shaped significantly by several years spent working in India and his ongoing explorations of places like California and Sri Lanka. His work, primarily oil on canvas, presents abstract and semi-recognisable imagery that dances across the surface. He aims to create vibrant, playful, and pleasurable experiences that explore how fleeting moments in the physical world translate into paint.

He is particularly driven by a desire to explore how light in these locations defines a composition. He’s drawn to that bright, harsh light that makes colours pop and resonate, or the soft, shimmering haze of a hot afternoon. He wants his paintings to carry that same resonance. This way of painting allows Alec the immense pleasure of observing the world and translating its energy onto a surface.

Recently, he finds himself reflecting on the staggeringly different visual stimuli of his continued travels and how they intersect with his current surroundings. He builds a "bank" of imagery through drawings, photographs, and sketchbook entries, constantly questioning how these disparate influences can merge into a "pan-global" vocabulary. For Alec, the canvas is a space for a back and forth, ...

• Ba (hons) Fine Art, Norwich School of Art and Design 2004-2007
• BTEC National Diploma Fine Art, Norwich City College 2002-2004

Residencies
June 2020, The Banditto Residency, Tuscany, Italy
October 2017 - December 2017, Dove Street Studios, Norwich, UK
June - July 2017, Goa Chitra Museum, Benaulim, Goa, India
July 2015 – July 2016, Norwich Cathedral School, Norwich, UK
November 2011 – November 2013, NIV art Centre, Delhi, India
October – November 2010, ICA Gallery, Jaipur, India

February 2026: The Other Art Fair Los Angeles
November 2025: Manchester Contemporary, Manchester, UK
September 2025: The Other Art Fair Los Angeles
March 2025: The Other Art Fair London
Feb 2025: How Did I Get Here?, The Edit Gallery, Limassol, Cyprus
May 2024: Sensation of Being, The Corn Hall, Diss, Norfolk, UK
October 2024, The Other Art Fair, London, Truman Brewery
August 2024, The originals, Print Club London, London

May 2024, The Other Art Fair , Brooklyn NY, USA

May 2024, Sensations of being, Diss Corn Hall, UK

September 2023, The other Art Fair LA, USA

May 2023, The Other Art Fair Brooklyn, New York, USA

December 2022, ‘Contemporary Now’, The Edit Gallery, Nicosia, Cyprus

September 2022, The Other Art Fair Los Angeles, Barker Hanger, Santa Monica, USA

June 2022, The Other Art Fair New York, Knockdown centre, Brooklyn, NY, USA

March 2022, The Other Art Fair London, Truman Brewery, London, UK
December 2021, ‘The Other Art fair x The Hoxton’, The Hoxton Holborn, London, UK

November 2021, Footprints, Pilgrims Contemporary, Art Hub Studios, London, UK (GROUP)

October 2021, The Other Art Fair London, Truman Brewery, London, UK (GROUP)

July 2021, HOPE, Fitzroy Modern Art, Norton Subcourse, Norfolk UK (GROUP)

Apr...