Schoph: The Quarantine Paintings

We are delighted to reopen with ‘The Quarantine Paintings’, a collection of new abstracts by Schoph. All created at Hirst Priory Studio, Lincolnshire, between the months of March and August 2020. A chapter in our history that has been shared universally and brought artists to the fore.

“…Usually I don’t look at the outside world, or the internet – so being an artist is naturally isolating – working whenever you have inspiration or drive. For me that is every day anyway.”

Schoph usually divides his time between studios in Costa Mesa, CA and South Yorkshire, so ‘quarantine’ has marked the longest period he has lived and worked in one place. And the results are compelling.

The ten new paintings are the artist’s largest and most involved to date. The series documents a range of emotions; complex but universal. At times an outward glance at the life of a ‘non-artist’; 9-5 working days, morning alarms and looking forward to the weekend. On other occasions a staunch refusal to be sucked into the social and political maelstrom “that can encapsulate us, if you let it…”

There is a fluidity and sense of liberation to each canvas, a result of the Action Painting technique also favoured by the likes of Jackson Pollock, Joan Mitchell and Willem de Kooning. As always, the influence of music is never far away; the rhythm of the paint application often a direct response to the soundtrack of the studio. Vintage Bob Dylan and Black Sabbath were on particularly heavy rotation during lockdown. Sporadic text and script appear from moments of intense listening and inspiration.

For the first time every painting also has a date embedded; to document completion and chronology, a tracking of time and a crystalline moment in history. The Quarantine Paintings form an inspiring narrative, reflections from outside the sense of self. Lockdown has only engendered the context and Schoph would have continued to paint and create art regardless. The show must go on…

A stellar lineup of Modern and Contemporary artists will compliment the exhibition, including Tracey Emin, Damien Hirst, David Hockney, Henri Matisse, KAWS, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol.

New artworks will also be on display direct from the studios of: Dan Baldwin, Thomas James Butler, Christian Furr, Horace Panter, Candie Payne, David Rusbatch, Seen and Nick Walker.

Click here to request the full exhibition catalogue.