Gwen Hardie’s work engages with figuration and the act of perception. She first gained attention with her large scale tightly cropped portraits of women. Her magnifications of skin lit by natural light resemble light effects in the landscape and micro/macro views of cells/earth. Intimate and monumental, the body-image shifts back and forth perceptually between an atmospheric illusion and a thing of gravity, real and tangible.
Born and educated in Scotland, she has lived and worked in London and Berlin before settling in New York City in 2000. Her work will be represented in a forthcoming Solo Show; “Human Boundaries” at Pugliese Levi Galerie in Berlin November 2020. Hardie’s work was shown most recently in 2019, in De Pan Art Fair in Amsterdam with ASAP Gallery, the Kunst Rai Art Fair and Art The Hague, (Alexandra Siebelink Projects). Recent exhibitions include; “Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting” at The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, July- Nov 2015 (previously at The Sainsbury Centre in Norwich) with Lucien Freud, Jenny Saville and others; “Skin Deep” a solo show at The Smoyer Gallery, Roanoke College, US in April/May 2014, “Borderline; Depictions of Skin” at Garis & Hahn, New York City and “Skin; An Artistic Atlas”, with John Coplans, Marlene Dumas and others at The Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, Ireland. Her solo show “Boundaries”, was in the Hebrides, Scotland, at An Lanntair and Taigh Chearsabhagh in 2012 / 2013 .
Hardie has been awarded residencies at The Bogliasco Foundation in Italy, (2015 and 2006), Yaddo, MacDowell and the VCCA in America. Her work has been reviewed in UK and US publications such as The Times, Art In America, The New York Times, The Glasgow Herald, The New Yorker, The Sunday Herald, Contemporary Visual Art, Time Out, The Scotsman and The Independent.
Hardie was the youngest living artist ever to be given a solo show at The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1994. She lived in London in the 90s and had solo shows with galleries such as Annely Juda Fine Art and Fischer Fine Art.
Private and public collections that have bought her work include The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, British Council, London, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, and the Gulbenkian Collection, Lisbon. >>> click here for detailed CV >>> or see below for latest activity
Education
1984-85 Hochshule Der Kunste, study with Baselitz.
1984 Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland (post grad diploma with distinction)
1979-83 Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland (first class honours degree)
Solo and two person shows
2020….Upcoming Solo show ; “Human Boundaries”, PuglieseLevi Galerie, Berlin, November 2020.
2017….”In Light Of The Body”, Paintings and Photographs by Gwen Hardie and Regina Deluise, Julio Fine Arts Gallery, Baltimore, MD
2014 …. “Skin Deep”, Smoyer Gallery, Roanoke College, US (catalog)
2013 …. “Boundaries”, Taigh Chearsabhagh, Lochmaddy, North Uist, Scotland (catalog)
2012 …. “Boundaries”, An Lanntair, Stornoway, The Outer Hebrides, Scotland. (catalog)
2009 …. “Body Tondi”, Bridge Street Studio Center,Brooklyn, NY
2005 …. “Face”, Dinter Fine Art, New York (catalog)
2004 …. “Closer”, Alpan Gallery, Huntington
2001 …. “Verge”, Lindsey Brown, New York
“Body 04.04.08”, oil on tondo,
42 inch dia, 2008
“Body 12.07.16”, oil on tondo,
60 inch dia, 2016
“Body 08.24.18”, oil on tondo,
30 inch dia, 2018
06.17.20, 20 inches dia,
oil on tondo, 2020
Group Shows
2019…. “De Pan” Art Fair, showing with ASAP Gallery, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2019…. “Pushing paper”, British Museum, London,
2019 …”Art The Hague”, showing with ASAP Gallery, The Hague, The Netherlands
2019….Birthday Suite”, Art:Site, Brooklyn, April 2019
2018….Art The Hague, with ASAP, The Hague, Netherlands, September 2018
2018….”Kunst Rai”, with ASAP, (Alexandra Siebelink Art Projects), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2017….”Vigorous Imagination; Then and Now”, The Fine Art Society, Edinburgh, UK
2017….”The Vigorous Imagination Revisited”, The Bilcliffe Gallery, Glasgow, UK
2016….”W. Gordon Smith Painting Award Competition”, Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh, UK
2015…”REALITY, Modern and Contemporary British Painting”, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, July- November
2014….”Reality: Modern and Contemporary British Painting”, with Lucien Freud, Cecily Brown, Jenny Saville and others, The Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, UK. Sep 27 2014 – Mar 1st 2015 (catalog)
2014….”The Art of Healing”, Attic Salt Gallery, Edinburgh Festival, July 1st – Aug 1st
2014…”Made at Saltonstall”, Summer show featuring work done at The Constance Saltonstall Foundation
2013….”Borderline, Depictions of Skin”, Gwen Hardie, Cynthia Lin, Diana Schmertz, Garis & Hahn, New York City
2013….”Skin; An Artistic Atlas:, with Marlene Dumas, John Coplans and others, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin (catalog)
2013….”Push/Pull”, Rag and Bone, New York City
Awards
2015 ….. Bogliasco Fellowship, Liguria study Center, Bogliasco, Italy 2012 ….. Constance Saltonstall Foundation Residency, Ithaca, New York
2010 ….. Residency at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts,Virginia
2009 ….. Residency at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts,Virginia
2008 ….. Residency at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts,Virginia
2007 ….. Residency at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts,Virginia
2006 ….. Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs, New York
2006 ….. Bogliasco Fellowship, for residence at the Liguria Study Center, Bogliasco, Italy
2005 ….. Yaddo Residency, Saratoga Springs. New York
2004 ….. Residency at The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2003 ….. Residency at The Ragdale Foundation,Lake Forest, Illinois
2003 ….. Residency at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts,Virginia
2002 ….. Residency at Virginia Creative Center for the Arts, Virginia
2000 ….. Membership of the Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts Studio Center, New York
2000 ….. Prizewinner of the 20th John Moores Liverpool Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1997 ….. ‘Annual Award’, King Edward the 7th British German Foundation, Berlin
1986 ….. ‘DAAD Extension’
1984-85 ….. ‘DAAD Annual Art Scholarship’, Berlin, West Germany ; to study with Baselitz
1983-84 ….. ‘Richard Ford Award’, Royal Academy, London, to study Velasquez, Prado Museum, Madrid