Simon Gudgeon, Andrew Ellis

Sporting Life

07 Aug 2010 - 28 Aug 2010 | 24 Bruton Street, London

Sporting Life brings together an important body of contemporary sporting art.  Around 12 paintings will be on show by Andrew Ellis and 6 sculptures by Simon Gudgeon.

Birds are the starting point for painter Andrew Ellis, and they dominate his canvases. Gliding on air currents far above the fields or perched alert against striated cliffs, they are depicted with anatomical perfection. Ellis is a trained falconer and active in countryside management; affinity for his subjects gives his paintings an authority that has been recognised in commissions for scholarly publications, including the forthcoming book Peregrines of the World.

Simon Gudgeon, who has been called the ‘stalking sculptor’, is an artist with a passion for observing creatures in the wild and working for their conservation. Both game shooting and stalking equip him with an enviable knowledge of the subjects he sculpts: dramatic bronzes of woodcock and salmon, roe deer and partridge. Catching grouse breaking cover or otters chasing fish, he captures motion in flowing, abstracted forms with contemporary grace and power.

Both artists have a passion for wildlife and provide a window through which we can perceive something of its beauty.