Timothy gatenby's work is about “merging reality and fiction, and a form of fantastical realism”.
His training is both in classical atelier and contemporary filmography.
Timothy first started studying filmography at St Mary’s college in London, where he specialised in the work of Tarkovsky and Werner Herzog. Timothy then went on to spend over 5 years studying at the Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, learning about the sight size technique, which uses light as a way of modelling form. This technique is still very prevalent in his work now.
Through his studies at the Charles Cecil Studios in Florence, Timothy developed an acute sense of characterisation through portraiture. The study of sight size technique teaches and trains the eye to capture the slightest moves in the sitter’s faces and mannerisms. Timothy’s ability to see and transcribe the emotions and movements of characters is a big part of his work now.
Timothy’s style is characterised by the combination of figuration, and conceptual realism, his characters are imbedded with human characteristics, which are described with an acute awareness of human mimics and behaviour.
The characters which Timothy depicts are painted in a fashion which reminisce of early renaissance works. The figures erupt from dimly painted hues and backgrounds, they take centre stage in the paintings, and objects of memento mori are allegorically replaced by contemporary technological objects. It is that collage of the old masterly technique and use of contemporary characters which make Timothy’s paintings so appealing.
“ I liked how you could use imagery that everybody knows and then put the characters in every day situations.”
Timothy’s use of oil paint and airbrush enables him to create elements of depth, the paintings are layered in a way that is reminiscent of the glazing of Italian renaissance paintings. His compositions are built and erupt from the picture plane, through a subtle process of layering and glazing and airbrush painting.
When talking about his works, and the use of Disney characters set in everyday life settings, Tim explains that it is about “merging reality and fiction, and a form of fantastical realism”.
Timothy Gatenby was a finalist in the BP portrait award in 2012. His work is represented by galleries in New York, Seoul and part of major collections.
