Ray Atkins came to prominence when his huge urban landscapes of London were exhibited during the 70’s at the Hayward Gallery and in his solo show at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. He has, however, committed by far the greater part of his working life to Cornwall but, in his choice of subjects he has defiantly avoided the seductive beauty of the Cornish landscape: they are landscapes of broken ground, of derelict or forgotten places, of overgrown places, old mine workings, quarries and the vast open cast china clay pits around St Austell and high on Bodmin Moor, and worked usually on an epic scale.

Made entirely out in the landscape, on boards anchored to structures and left in place for weeks on end, these are paintings that are absolutely distinctive. Leon Kossoff has written that, “Painting in a field, on a hill or in a valley Ray Atkins uses the outside world as a studio. The landscapes emerge from day to day involvement with an ever changing subject which is finally committed to a specific visual experience. I have admired these extraordinary paintings for many years.”

This drive to make large paintings in inhospitable places is complimented by a parallel love of the natural world and between the major projects he sets up his boards in the orchards and gardens that surround his studio. As he comments “…there are times when I need to do something major to take up the whole of what my needs are at the time but there are other times when that’s not uppermost and I need these more intimate subjects. ”

Ray Atkins, a graduate of the Slade (1961-64) has shown regularly at Art Space Gallery since 1989 and during this time has had major retrospective exhibitions at The Royal West of England Academy and at the Kilkenny Arts Festival in Ireland. He has work in private and public collections in Germany, U.S.A and the UK, including the Arts Council, British Council and the British Museum.

A 24-page catalogue with 13 full colour reproductions (including 3 fold-outs) is available.
To obtain a copy click: publications

Recent exhibitions of Ray Atkins at Art Space Gallery:
Paintings 2003
Different Landscapes
Rhythm of the Seasons