Richard Wathen

Richard Wathen paints fictional portraits that invite ambiguity. His interest lies in portraying his subject at more than one point in their lives, in which he takes the cubists' idea of multiple viewpoints and applies it to time. The figures in his work seem fragile, lost in contemplation, and perhaps considering the incommunicable sensations of being alive, while their age and gender are often uncertain.

His work has been featured in several solo exhibitions, including Works on Paper, FransKasl Projects, Eindhoven (2021); New eyes every time, MOSTYN Gallery, Wales (2020); Futures and Pasts, Atlas House, Ipswich (2019); Annalisa Stevens, London (2015); Max Wigram Gallery, London (2011); L&M Arts, New York (2007); The Valley is Broken, Salon 94, New York (2005) and Unpeaceable Kingdom, MW Projects, London (2004).

Among his group exhibitions are Public intimacy, Confer-Karnac, London (2021); The Collector’s Room, JGM Gallery, London (2020); MOSTYN Open 21, MOSTYN Gallery, Wales (2019); Preparing For Darkness, vol.3 Kuhlhaus, Berlin (2019); 3-5 Silent Street, Ipswich, Suffolk (2018); The Incredible Likeness of Being, Marc Straus Gallery, New York (2016); El Dorado, Horatio Junior, London (2016); Tutti Frutti, Turps Banana Gallery, London (2016); Love: The First Of The 7 Virtues, Hudson Valley Center For Contemporary Art, New York (2015); States of Mind, Maison Particulière, Brussels (2014); The Opinion Makers, Lubomirov-Easton, London (2013) and Wonderful-Humboldt, Crocodile & Polke, Die Olbricht Collection, Berlin (2012) among others.

His work is included in the collections of the MOCA, Los Angeles and the Olbricht Collection, Berlin.

Born in 1971 in London, he currently lives and works in Suffolk.