Nigel Shipley

Bitumen paint is made to repair a leaking roof. It is dreadful stuff to work with, sticky, stinking and as black as can be. It is like the dregs of a barrel of crude oil, but when dried on a painting it can be a sublime, rich, and deep black. Pure black like Japanese lacquer, but with a velvety softness. I can make a simple mould out of clay and melt metal to cast silvery pieces to embed into bitumen. Black and silver challenging each other like yin and yang.


Oil paint applied in a thin wash over a pure white base acts like a sheet of coloured glass through which light passes and reflects back off the white base. This can illuminate the colour from behind and make it glow.


These are some of the luscious elements that I use to create my paintings which capture a feeling, mood, or a sense of a place. I work on several paintings at a time, and a finished piece is built up as each layer of paint dries and another is applied over it. Layering paint is just one of the ways in which I create a sense of depth.


I am inspired by the black paintings of Pierre Soularges, the squeegee paintings of Gerhard Richter, and abstract expressionist paintings. The work of musician and sound artists such as Tim Hecker, Nils Fra...

• Harrow School of Art – Foundation in Art and Design 1973 - 1974

• Norwich School of Art – BA (Hons) Fine art 1974 – 1977

October 2016 - solo exhibition HOURS gallery Bristol, UK
December 2016, Clifton Fine Arty, Bristol, UK.
April 2017 - Bath Art Fair, Bath, UK
September 2017 - Other Art Fair, Saatchi, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
October 2017 - solo exhibition, HOURS gallery, Bristol, UK
- July 2018 Other Art Fair, Bristol
- October 2018 HOURS Gallery Bristol