JULIAN M C SCOTT
Artist’s Statement:
The essential nature of my work is exploratory. It is a journey into abstraction and an interrogation of the boundaries and nature of painting itself. I invite the viewer to share this journey with me.
I tend to work on several paintings at once, often revisiting them over periods of weeks, months or even years. They are abstract and they evolve through a process, central to which is the materiality of paint and the physicality of gesture. As each painting emerges, it engages remembered and imagined experiences, investigating a personal, lived spatiality of time and place. Visual propositions and juxtapositions are explored that are intended to be in some way ambiguous, unexpected, or strange to me. I look to be surprised by what I find along the way and to embrace the awkward and the slightly ‘off’. In this way, my work is a kind of pure research into the act of painting, and how it enacts dramas that speak to our shared experience.
Biography:
I was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and grew up in Bristol. My father was the artist and sculptor Gerald Scott and so art, and artists, have been part of my experience from the start. My developing passions and interests, nourished by this creative environment, led me to attend art school where I initially studied for a degree in sculpture followed by a masters in painting. Alongside my continuing creative practice, I followed a career teaching at various art schools in the UK. Most recently I designed and lead the Fine Art degree programme at Bristol School of Art and the new Integrated Foundation Programme in Art, Media and Design at Bristol UWE.
I left teaching in 2020 to concentrate more fully on my own painting, working from my studio on top of the house that I share with my wife and where we brought up our family.
Education:
Foundation Studies in Art and design: Bristol Polytechnic (Now Bristol UWE)
BA (Hons) Fine Art: Kingston School of Art
MA Fine Art: Cardiff School of Art & Design
Teaching experience :
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level in various Universities and Art Schools including:
Harrow School of Art: (now the University of Westminster) on the Foundation Course and BA(Hons) Illustration.
Bristol School of Art: Tutor on several undergraduate programmes and Course Leader for: Foundation Art & Design (UAL); BA (Hons) Fine Art and FdA Creative Practices
Bristol UWE: Tutor on several undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and Programme Leader for: Foundation in Art, Media & Design; BA (Hons) Education in Professional Practice and Pathway Lead for the BEd (Hons) Fine Art Pathway.
Consultancy etc.:
Former member of the Artists' Committee of the King’s Street Gallery, Bristol.
Founder member of ‘Artery’, an organisation set up to organise temporary and 'pop-up' exhibition venues in and around the City of Bristol.
Former Scheme Advisor and External Examiner: Foundation Studies in Art & Design for the Awarding Body Consortium where I examined at various institutions across the South and Southwest of England including City of Bath College and the University of Portsmouth..
Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions:
RWA Bristol
Embankment Gallery, London.
Syon Park Art Centre, London. Three person show with Pip Thompson and Ann-Marie Foster.
The Gallery, Acme Studios, Brixton. Solo Show.
National Museum of Wales. Cardiff.
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery (Catalogue). Kanagawa, Japan.
The Festival Gallery, Bath. Two person show with Howard Hodgkin.
Brewhouse Gallery, Taunton
Kingswood Civic Centre, Bristol. Solo Show.
Bristol School of Art. Bristol
Talbot Fine Art, Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
Chapter Gallery, Cardiff: Sites and Sensibilities:.
Howard Gardens Gallery, Cardiff.
King Street Gallery Bristol.
The Old Leadworks pop-up Gallery space: A3-Artery Artists Artworx at the Leadworks, Bristol.
John Street Gallery, Stroud.
2021:
Espacio Gallery, Shoreditch. "Abstract" -
Victoria Gallery, Bath. Bath Society of Artists Annual Open exhibition
2022:
East Cliff House Gallery, Essex. "About the Size of It"
Centrespace Gallery, Bristol. "Imagined Things" – Two person show with ceramicist, Oliver Kent.
La Grange Gallery Cernay-Lès-Reims, France. "Like a Slight Hiccup..." /" Comme un léger contretemps…" (Catalogue).
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield “Paint"
2023:
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield "Beneath the Earth"
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield "Magic"
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield “Abstract”
ACEarts Gallery, Somerton “ACEarts Open”
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield “Fronteer open”
2024:
HOURS, Bristol. "In the Abstract", Solo show.
Bocabar Arts, "Springtide". Paintworks, Bristol.
Terrace Gallery, London. "Concrete > Abstract". Curated by Stephen Keane.
Terrace Gallery at Patchworks, London. "It Rose and it Fell" - 20 years of the Terrace Gallery.
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield. "Abstract '24".
No Format Gallery, Debtford, London. "Finding Form" Curated by Stephen Keane & Sara Breinlinger.
2025:
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield "Painting"
Upcoming Exhibitions:
The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber "Abstract Encounters". Curated by Anthony Housman and David Alcock. 13 Sep.
-29th Nov. 2025
Julian is also a musician and a member of the band 'Venn'. See link on the 'Links' page.
Artist’s Statement:
The essential nature of my work is exploratory. It is a journey into abstraction and an interrogation of the boundaries and nature of painting itself. I invite the viewer to share this journey with me.
I tend to work on several paintings at once, often revisiting them over periods of weeks, months or even years. They are abstract and they evolve through a process, central to which is the materiality of paint and the physicality of gesture. As each painting emerges, it engages remembered and imagined experiences, investigating a personal, lived spatiality of time and place. Visual propositions and juxtapositions are explored that are intended to be in some way ambiguous, unexpected, or strange to me. I look to be surprised by what I find along the way and to embrace the awkward and the slightly ‘off’. In this way, my work is a kind of pure research into the act of painting, and how it enacts dramas that speak to our shared experience.
Biography:
I was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex and grew up in Bristol. My father was the artist and sculptor Gerald Scott and so art, and artists, have been part of my experience from the start. My developing passions and interests, nourished by this creative environment, led me to attend art school where I initially studied for a degree in sculpture followed by a masters in painting. Alongside my continuing creative practice, I followed a career teaching at various art schools in the UK. Most recently I designed and lead the Fine Art degree programme at Bristol School of Art and the new Integrated Foundation Programme in Art, Media and Design at Bristol UWE.
I left teaching in 2020 to concentrate more fully on my own painting, working from my studio on top of the house that I share with my wife and where we brought up our family.
Education:
Foundation Studies in Art and design: Bristol Polytechnic (Now Bristol UWE)
BA (Hons) Fine Art: Kingston School of Art
MA Fine Art: Cardiff School of Art & Design
Teaching experience :
I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and have taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level in various Universities and Art Schools including:
Harrow School of Art: (now the University of Westminster) on the Foundation Course and BA(Hons) Illustration.
Bristol School of Art: Tutor on several undergraduate programmes and Course Leader for: Foundation Art & Design (UAL); BA (Hons) Fine Art and FdA Creative Practices
Bristol UWE: Tutor on several undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and Programme Leader for: Foundation in Art, Media & Design; BA (Hons) Education in Professional Practice and Pathway Lead for the BEd (Hons) Fine Art Pathway.
Consultancy etc.:
Former member of the Artists' Committee of the King’s Street Gallery, Bristol.
Founder member of ‘Artery’, an organisation set up to organise temporary and 'pop-up' exhibition venues in and around the City of Bristol.
Former Scheme Advisor and External Examiner: Foundation Studies in Art & Design for the Awarding Body Consortium where I examined at various institutions across the South and Southwest of England including City of Bath College and the University of Portsmouth..
Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions:
RWA Bristol
Embankment Gallery, London.
Syon Park Art Centre, London. Three person show with Pip Thompson and Ann-Marie Foster.
The Gallery, Acme Studios, Brixton. Solo Show.
National Museum of Wales. Cardiff.
Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery (Catalogue). Kanagawa, Japan.
The Festival Gallery, Bath. Two person show with Howard Hodgkin.
Brewhouse Gallery, Taunton
Kingswood Civic Centre, Bristol. Solo Show.
Bristol School of Art. Bristol
Talbot Fine Art, Tetbury, Gloucestershire.
Chapter Gallery, Cardiff: Sites and Sensibilities:.
Howard Gardens Gallery, Cardiff.
King Street Gallery Bristol.
The Old Leadworks pop-up Gallery space: A3-Artery Artists Artworx at the Leadworks, Bristol.
John Street Gallery, Stroud.
2021:
Espacio Gallery, Shoreditch. "Abstract" -
Victoria Gallery, Bath. Bath Society of Artists Annual Open exhibition
2022:
East Cliff House Gallery, Essex. "About the Size of It"
Centrespace Gallery, Bristol. "Imagined Things" – Two person show with ceramicist, Oliver Kent.
La Grange Gallery Cernay-Lès-Reims, France. "Like a Slight Hiccup..." /" Comme un léger contretemps…" (Catalogue).
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield “Paint"
2023:
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield "Beneath the Earth"
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield "Magic"
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield “Abstract”
ACEarts Gallery, Somerton “ACEarts Open”
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield “Fronteer open”
2024:
HOURS, Bristol. "In the Abstract", Solo show.
Bocabar Arts, "Springtide". Paintworks, Bristol.
Terrace Gallery, London. "Concrete > Abstract". Curated by Stephen Keane.
Terrace Gallery at Patchworks, London. "It Rose and it Fell" - 20 years of the Terrace Gallery.
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield. "Abstract '24".
No Format Gallery, Debtford, London. "Finding Form" Curated by Stephen Keane & Sara Breinlinger.
2025:
Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield "Painting"
Upcoming Exhibitions:
The Ropewalk, Barton upon Humber "Abstract Encounters". Curated by Anthony Housman and David Alcock. 13 Sep.
-29th Nov. 2025
Julian is also a musician and a member of the band 'Venn'. See link on the 'Links' page.