Ian Rayer-Smith
Ian Rayer-Smith
Manchester, North West, United Kingdom
About Ian Rayer-Smith
In a world preoccupied with technology, there is something remarkable about painting. It connects us back to man’s earliest and most elemental forms of self expression.
I am not interested in painting something that already exists. My pressing urge is to use paint to explore new forms which will ultimately carry emotional weight. I try not to recreate an image. Instead, I may use it as a reference point by which to move from one painting to the next.
I am influenced by the Abstract Expressionists - for their emotional rawness and mark making, and also by the Renaissance - for composition, light and movement. Onto these I layer influences from contemporary culture and my own personal experience. I aim to instil a classical feel into my work whilst finding new visual paths, with the result hopefully being an exploration of the purpose of painting itself.
I think of my paintings as posing a series of questions rather than providing overt statements or narrative pointers towards any clear kind of answer. There would be no joy or satisfaction in doing that. Instead, the process is more about showing my search for something which, maybe, I hope I’ll never find.
I am not interested in painting something that already exists. My pressing urge is to use paint to explore new forms which will ultimately carry emotional weight. I try not to recreate an image. Instead, I may use it as a reference point by which to move from one painting to the next.
I am influenced by the Abstract Expressionists - for their emotional rawness and mark making, and also by the Renaissance - for composition, light and movement. Onto these I layer influences from contemporary culture and my own personal experience. I aim to instil a classical feel into my work whilst finding new visual paths, with the result hopefully being an exploration of the purpose of painting itself.
I think of my paintings as posing a series of questions rather than providing overt statements or narrative pointers towards any clear kind of answer. There would be no joy or satisfaction in doing that. Instead, the process is more about showing my search for something which, maybe, I hope I’ll never find.
Education
University of Salford. Visual Art. BA Hons. 2013
Exhibitions
Forthcoming: Cadogan Contemporary, London 10-28 June
Previous:
2019 Apr. Artis Magna, Paris
2019 Mar. ArtUp, LILLE, Artis Magna
2018 Oct Manchester Art Fair, Manchester Stand 504
2018 Oct The Other Art Fair, London Stand 38
2018 Jun. Chelsea Cross, solo Art Safari, London
2018 March Talented Art Fair, London
2018 March The Other Art Fair, London
2018 June Solo show, Fulham Road, Chelsea, London
2018 Feb-Sept Solo show at Candy Capital Headquarters, Mayfair, London UK
2018 Jan Art Palm Beach Art Fair, USA
2017 Oct Buy Art Fair, Manchester
2017 Aug/Sept D-Contemporary, Mayfair, London. Solo exhibition
2017 April Zari Gallery, Fitzrovia, London. Solo Exhibition
2016 October WCAF, Warrington Museum, Warrington. Group show
2016 September Manchester Buy Art Fair 2016
2016 June/July GM Arts Prize, Shortlisted Award 2016, Manchester
2016 March 'All is more is nothing' Solo show, Screaming Gander Contemporary Art, Manchester
2016 February 'Neo Renaissance' Fishslab Gallery, Whitstable. Solo show
2016 January 'Artrooms London 2016, International Art Fair
2015 October 'Romantica' - 40 small paintings, Screaming Gander, Manchester. Solo show
2015 August/Sept 'Making up for lost time', Stockport Museum and Art Gallery, Stockport/ Gtr Manchester. Solo show
2015 July/Sept 'The destruction of anything familiar', Gallery at Bank Quay House, Warrington. Solo show
2015 June 'Pure Painting' Bar Gallery, London, NW2. Group show
2015 May 'The Open West' The Wilson Art Gallery, Cheltenham
2015 May 'The destruction of anything famliar' Screaming Gander, Manchester
2015 March 'New Artist Fair' 2015, Islington London
2014 October 'Six Months On' Solo exhibition, Screaming Gander, Manchester
2014 October Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, Warrington Musuem
2014 April 'Flabbergasted!' Solo exhibition, Screaming Gander, Manchester
2013 October 'Synthesis' Festival of Art and Science, Manchester
2013 August 'Off Kilter' Group Show, Manchester
2013 July 'Beautiful Things' Group show, Albert Dock, Liverpool
2013 June 'BA Hons Degree Show, Media City, Salford
2013 May '6.3 x 5 (at odds) Joint Show, Piccadilly, Manchester
2012 April ‘New Blood’ Group Show, Manchester
2011 May ‘WFTL' Group Show, Manchester
2010 September GNT Art Exhibition, Solo Show, Manchester
2010 April Centenary Art Show, Group Show, Salford
2008 April Juice Hub Gallery, Solo Show, Bristol
