Anthony Whishaw RA (b. 1930, London, UK) is an English artist and member of the Royal Academy, who lives and works in London.
Whishaw’s œuvre, spanning over seven decades, defies categorisation. It is rich and diverse, monumental yet sensitive, thoughtful, often whimsical, and above all, timeless and unexpected. He claims no association with any particular movement, stating instead that “each painting and work on paper makes its own separate demands”.
His work deals with explorations of memory, ideas and experience; he is not concerned with reproducing an observed fact but with discovering or creating a new reality. On the edge of representation, varying in intent, scale and depiction, the work seeks to reconcile illusion and allusion, the abstract and the figurative, past and present pictorial languages to create unforeseen visual experiences. Whishaw admits to working on many ideas concurrently, with some paintings being worked on over many years, sometimes decades, a process that leads to unique, unpredictable hybrids.
Whishaw studied at Chelsea School of Art (awarded NDD) and the Royal College of Art, where he was awarded the ARCA (first class hons).
He has had numerous solo shows throughout the UK, including the ICA, London (1971); the Oxford Gallery, Oxford (1978); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (1982); Royal Academy of Arts (1987); and the Barbican Centre (1994).
Received awards include the RCA Drawing Prize (1954); Perth International Drawing Biennale Prize (1973); South East Arts Association Painting Prize (1975); Arts Council of Great Britain Award (1978); Greater London Council Painting Prize (1981); Abbey Premier Scholarship (1982), John Moores Minor Painting Prize (1982); Lorne Scholarship (1982-3); Joint winner Hunting Group National Art Competition (1986); and Korn Ferry Carre Oban International Picture of the Year in 1996.
