Andrew Cranston
Andrew Cranston (b. 1969, Hawick, UK) is a Glasgow-based painter whose narrative vignettes are culled from his own personal history, as well as literary and anecdotal sources. Cranston’s compositions effect a layered referentiality by incorporating varnish and collage. He often uses the hardback covers of books as a support for his paintings, demonstrating his surreal, deadpan sense of humor. Cranston retextures their surfaces with dense layers of paint, a technique which recalls Post-Impressionists such as Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuillard. Cranston was included in the exhibition Outside, curated by Matthew Higgs, at Karma in 2016. A graduate of the Royal College of Art in London and a former lecturer at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, Cranston’s recent exhibitions include Ingleby Gallery at Frieze New York (2019); Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2018); Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London (2017); and Look Again: Visual Arts and Design Festival, Aberdeen (2016).
Cranston’s work is represented in the collections of Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, United Kingdom; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom; Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom; Unilever Collection, London, United Kingdom; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia; Hall Art Foundation, Reading, Vermont; Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon; and Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida, among others.
Born 1969, Hawick, United Kingdom
Lives and works in Glasgow, United Kingdom
EDUCATION
1996
MA in Painting, Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom
1993
BA (Honors) in Fine Art, Grays School of Art, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
1990
Diploma in Art and Design, Manchester Polytechnic, United Kingdom
Selected Solo and Two-Person Exhibitions
2021
Ingleby Gallery, London, Andrew Cranston and Lorna Robertson: Faces in the Water
Karma, New York, Waiting for the Bell
2019
Ingleby Gallery at Frieze New York, Solo Exhibition
2018
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, But the dream had no sound
2017
Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, If I were a carpenter and other stories
2016
Look Again: Visual Art and Design Festival, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, Henderson Blyth’s Drawer
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Paintings from a room
Upper Church Gallery, Summerhall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2015
Rob Tufnell, London, Book Launch: Who is this who is coming?
2014
Display Gallery, London, Who is this who is coming?
2013
Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin, What to do after a death in Scotland
Upper Hope Park Church Gallery, Summerhall, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Who is this who is coming?
Hawick Museum, United Kingdom, Walter, do you remember?
2010
Hamish Morrison Galerie, Berlin, Im Büro
2009
International Project Space, Bournville College, Birmingham, United Kingdom, What a Man does in the Privacy of His Own Attic is His Affair
School of Art, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, (In)Visible Grays
2008
Royal Academy, London, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
Foyer Gallery, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, New Work
2002
Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, United Kingdom, Mappin Open Solo Show
Glasgow Project Room, Glasgow, United Kingdom, A Narrative Driven By Shape
2000
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Stoorsooker
1998
Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow, United Kingdom, The Happy Hunting Ground (Part 2)
Peacock Printmakers, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, The Happy Hunting Ground
1997
Long and Ryle Art International, London, New Work
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
Margot Samel, New York, To be a giant and keep quiet about it
The Royal Academy, London, Summer Exhibition
2021
Adams and Ollman, Portland, Oregon, Dear John
2020
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, HOME
Karma, New York, (Nothing but) Flowers
2019
Sipgate Shows, Düsseldorf, Brexit: Mail Art from a Small Island
Le Bel Ordinaire, Pau, France, Du Coq À L’âne
Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, United Kingdom, Painters Beach Club: Telescope
2018
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, TWENTY
J Hammond Projects, London, Zeros to Heroes: The Beta Band Archive
2016
Karma, New York, Outside; curated by Matthew Higgs
Feldbuschweisner Galerie, Berlin, The secret life of spaces
Polarcap Contemporary Art Projects, Dunbar, United Kingdom, Now Now
Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, United Kingdom, Towards Night
Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow, Trigger Words
2014
Mac Arts Centre, Belfast, Mac International Open
Lion and Lamb Gallery, London, Enclosures, Elsewhere
2013
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Between the Late and Early
Satis House, Belfast, Long they look and deeply
2012
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, United Kingdom, John Moores Painting Prize
Second Guest Projects and Ana Christea Gallery, New York, Dorian Gray
2011
Duff House, Banff, United Kingdom, Hurricane Lamb
Norwich Gallery, United Kingdom, Courtesy of Objects (guest artist in Marc Camille Chaimowitz exhibition)
Fleming Collection, London, Summer Exhibition
2010
Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Prints of Darkness
2009
Norwich Gallery, United Kingdom, EAST International
2008
Intermedia Gallery, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, United Kingdom, This Dark Ceiling
Ute Parduhn Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany, Interieur
2007
Norwich Gallery, United Kingdom, EAST International
Crane Arts Centre, Philadelphia, Digital VD
Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, D.C.A., Dundee
2006
Atelier Am Eck, Düsseldorf, Germany, The Overlooked Atelier
2003
Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno, United Kingdom, Oriel Mostyn 13
Rockwell, London, Sometime Blonde
Galerie Wozownia, Torun, Poland, Albatross: Scottish Artists at Galeria Sztuki Wozownia
2000
Cabinet Gallery, London, The Poster Show
1999
Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh,United Kingdom, In the Summertime
Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York, The Poster Show
1996
Thames Valley University, London, Bad Reproduction
Galerie Poo-Poo, London, Winkle; curated by BANK
1995
The Curve Gallery, Barbican Centre, London, Interim
1993
Institute Francais, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Project Georges Perec
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Royal College of Art, London
Unilever Collection, London
Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Hawick Museum, Wilton Lodge Park, United Kingdom
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Art Gallery of NSW, Sydney
Hall Art Foundation, Vermont
Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami
Portland Art Museum, Portland, Oregon
LECTURES, HONORS, & AWARDS
2015
Visual Arts Award, Hope Scott Trust, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2014
The Arts Foundation Fellowship for Painting, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2013
Quality Arts Production Award, Creative Scotland, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2012
Special Jury Recognition for excellence in Poster Design (for short film ‘Pitch Black Heist’), South by Southwest Film Festival, Austin, Texas
2009
Artists Award, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2008
Creative Development Award, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
2006
WASPS/Dusseldorf Artists’ Exchange, Residency, Düsseldorf, Germany
Rootstein Hopkins Sabbatical Award for Lecturers, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, United Kingdom
2001
Mappin Open Solo Show Award, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield, United Kingdom
2000
Alastair Salvesen Art Scholarship, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
1999
Small Assistance Grant, Scottish Arts Council, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
1995
Erasmus+ Travel Award to Vienna, European Commission, Brussels
1993
John Kinross Travelling Scholarship to Florence, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
NatWest Prize for Art, NatWest, London
PUBLICATIONS
2018
But the dream had no sound
Andrew Cranston, Peter Doig
Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh
164 pages, hardback
19.5 x 24.5 cm
2016
Henderson Blyth’s Drawer
Andrew Cranston
The Gatehouse, Robert Gordon University / Look Again Visual Art and Design Festival, Aberdeen
2015
Andrew Cranston, Who is this who is coming?
Andrew Cranston, Liza Dimbleby
Aye-Aye Books, Glasgow
80 pages, hardback
23.7 x 21.5 cm
