Approved: 22.06.2017

Steve Burden

Artist, Film-maker, Maker, Writer

Archived
Approved: 22.06.2017

Growing up in an urban jungle, surrounded by out-of-scale concrete fortresses, has inevitably informed my development and visual aesthetic as an artist. Inspired by my own experiences growing up on the Pepys Estate in Deptford, south London, my paintings investigate dystopian themes and ideas associated with British housing estates. I’m interested in exploring the social issues that arose from the creation of this estate – security, isolation, control and gang culture – as well as its design and architecture, and the history of the site.

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  • Location: London & Somerset, UK Wide

Artist Statement

Growing up in an urban jungle, surrounded by out-of-scale concrete fortresses, has inevitably informed my development and visual aesthetic as an artist. Inspired by my own experiences growing up on the Pepys Estate in Deptford, south London, my paintings investigate dystopian themes and ideas associated with British housing estates. I’m interested in exploring the social issues that arose from the creation of this estate – security, isolation, control and gang culture – as well as its design and architecture, and the history of the site.

Pepys Estate’s past, as well as my own experiences, has fed into my paintings. From medieval times the site of the estate was an important dockland development with several wharves, a large cattle market and associated abattoir. My painting Abattoir began with a 1913 photograph taken in the abattoir and obtained from the Pepys Archive in nearby Lewisham Library. I wanted to reconnect with these long-gone figures in black and white, and examine their personas – one of the reasons I chose to place myself in the painting – to understand better the gangs of men that once worked there, while introducing the street-gang members that the estate had become known for in later years.

In terms of construction, layering has become an important aspect of my work, both in the building up of layer upon layer and erasure, and also as a means to build multiple readings and a more complex narrative into the paintings. My process can involve dissolving a day’s painting so that the surface becomes like a palimpsest of time, and I also paint over areas, obliterating them and taking them back to the background colour. The issues of population growth and associated density are ones that continue to increase and cause tension, with no sign of a slow-down or solution. The ‘sink estates’ are gradually being demolished, an expensive failed experiment. But what is going to replace them?

 

CV & Education

EXPERIENCE:

2015 – PRESENT: ARTIST  www.steveburden.co.uk

2007 – 2015: DESIGNER

 

QUALIFICATIONS:

MA FINE ART (DISTINCTION), BATH SPA UNIVERSITY

MA TYPO/GRAPHICS , UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON

BA HONS (FIRST CLASS) DESIGN, GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

DIPLOMA ART & DESIGN, RAVENSBOURNE COLLEGE

DIPLOMA CLASSICAL HISTORY, OPEN UNIVERSITY

YACHTMASTER, ROYAL YACHTING ASSOCIATION

RESCUE DIVER, PADI AUSTRALIA

 

TALKS & WORKSHOPS:

2017 – BLACK SWAN ARTS, FROME

2017 – BRUTON ART FACTORY, BRUTON

2017 – BATH ARTIST STUDIOS, BATH

2017 – THE BLUE SCHOOL, WELLS

2016 – BATH SPA UNIVERSITY

2015 – GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

2015 – CITY OF BRISTOL COLLEGE

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS:

2018 - NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON

2017 - PIGS AT PEPYS, LANE HOUSE ARTS, BATH

2017 - UTOPIAN MYTHS, BLACK SWAN ARTS, FROME

2017 - PEPYS, ROPER GALLERY, BATH

2015 - PIGS MIGHT FLY, OLD STREET, LONDON

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:

2019 - NEXT GENERATION, ALON ZAKAIM FINE ART, LONDON
2019 - RECONSTRUCTING THE REALITY, PEYER FINE ART, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

2018 - COME AS YOU ARE, DADIANI FINE ART, CORK STREET, LONDON
2018 - DRAWING OPEN, NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON
2018 - RECONSTRUCTING THE REALITY, D10, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2018 - ART CAPITAL, HANGSHENG CAPITAL, HANGZHOU, CHINA
2018 - ARTPLU, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHANGHAI, CHINA
2018 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, THE WILSON, CHELTENHAM, UK

2017 – SFSA OPEN, NO FORMAT GALLERY, LONDON
2017 – ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, FALMOUTH ART GALLERY, UK
2017 – ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, BRISTOL MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, UK
2017 – FRINGE ARTS, BATH, UK
2017 – GAVIN TURK AND FRIENDS, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2017 – WAY OUT WEST, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2017 - PAINTING OPEN, NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON
2017 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, FALMOUTH ART GALLERY, UK
2017 - ART SHENZEN, SHENZEN CITY, CHINA
2017 - MONARCHS TO MONGRELS, THE SHEPPEY, GODNEY, UK
2017 - WILD IN THE COUNTRY, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2017 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, BRISTOL MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, UK
2017 - FRINGE ARTS, BATH, UK
2017 - GAVIN TURK AND FRIENDS, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2017 - WAY OUT WEST, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK


2016 - THE THAMES: THE ARTERY OF LONDON, DEVON HOUSE, LONDON
2016 - BRUT MIDWINTER, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2016 - ENTOPIA, SPACE, BRISTOL, UK
2016 - BLACKSWAN ARTS, FROME, UK 
2016 - FRINGE ARTS BATH, BATH CENTRAL LIBRARY, UK
2016 - OPEN CALL, CHAPEL ARTS CAFE, BATH, UK
2016 - SPACE, CORSHAM COURT, WILTSHIRE, UK
2016 - THE ARTIST BEHIND THE WORK, BATH SPA UNIVERSITY, UK
2016 - MAFIA, WALCOT CHAPEL, BATH, UK
2016 - THE ART OF BOXING, OLD STREET, LONDON

2015 - YULETIDE, 44AD, BATH, UK
2015 - OPEN CALL, CAPITAL GALLERY, LONDON
2015 - OPEN CALL, ANGUS-HUGHES, LONDON
2015 - THE BLUE SKYLINE,  WUXI CITY, CHINA

 

AWARDS:

2019 – ZABLUDOWICZ COLLECTION - MASTERCLASS AWARD
2018 – BLACK SWAN ARTS - JUDGE
2018 – JOHN MOORES PRIZE - SHORTLISTED
2018 – RESIDENCY, THE IBRAHIM FOUNDATION
2017 – AESTHETICA ART PRIZE - LONGLISTED
2017 – A-N BURSARY
2017 – ALTERNATE VISIONS - FINALIST
2017 – NEW BLOOD ART - MASTER
2016 – BLACK SWAN ARTS - WINNER
2016 – BRUTON ART FACTORY - BRUTALIST
2016 – DEREK HILL FOUNDATION AWARD