BIO:

Since I first started drawing on notepads, napkins, books and classroom desks my family and all the schools I attended realised I might be interested in art. My first memory of art museums or culture in general was when I was introduced to the classic paintings of Canaletto and Lowry and I have had an interest in urban scenes ever since. The mood, the way atmosphere, masses and man made colossal structures merge to create scenes of chaos that appear to be harmonious fascinated me at a younger age.

Up until the age of 16 I had been solely interested in drawing until one day I built a pinhole camera out of a pringles packet in the dark room of my secondary school and practically lived there for 3 months. I was facinated by the smoky textures and mistakes that made them so atmospheric and ambiguous in their presentation they felt hand made. It was at this point that I felt I had exhausted the idea of graphite for now and I wanted to try new processes, I had always respected the oil painter having seen so many different applications for the medium and I was inspired to paint. In a merging of two goals I wanted to better portray the ideas in my head and which I had captured in my photography and I also wanted to paint with the flare of Canaletto, a Monet, or Lowry, something I was naive enough to believe was far easier than the reality.

In the search for artists that connected these ideas in ways that I connected with I was introduced to the contemporary paintings of artists like Jeremy Mann, Ken Howard, and Andrew Gifford and they struck the trigger I had in my mind and I have not looked back ever since. From that moment I have been painting, almost constantly, with the exception of the time taken to pass an architectural degree I graduated from in 2019 which changed the way I think about art, processes and critique in ways I wouldn't have ever expected.

My first pieces (around 2016) were massive colourful depictions of London in which I was trying to capture the energy and spirit of the moment. Since then I have been searching for ways to capture the beauty, feeling, and emotion I have within my head through the medium of paint, with the world as my subject. I scrutinise every part of my artistic process constantly to push my technique further into what I see in my head. This has led me to paint both en Plein Air and in the Studio in order to see my subject and paint exactly what the motif suggests to me without the limitation of time which is eliminated in the following studio work.

Recently I have been lucky enough to receive numerous awards for my work, including the Green and stone prize for a painting at the Annual Chelsea Arts Society Exhibition, the Winsor and newton young artist award at the Royal institute of oil painters (1st place in 2023 and 3rd in 2021), The New Generation Award at the RSMA, and the Emerging artist prize from the Royal institute of Oil painters 2021. I am a full member of the Wapping Group of Artists and an Associate member of Chelsea Art Society.

To summarise, I believe my artwork longs for authenticity in the expression of nature. Something that can be enjoyed and related to by people who have no connection to the place, a shared nostalgia. From here I plan to further develop my own voice within the art industry and build upon the knowledge of myself and my tools to present more interesting work to anyone and everyone who wants to see it. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading, and thank you for your support. Stay tuned for more updates and pieces as they're completed. Feel free to contact me through my email if you're interested in anything from press to buying work to my process to my materials or just to connect. If you're interested in seeing more of my processes and bts material I reccomend subscribing to my mailing list via the “Mailing List” tab.

Thank you

Max