'All good portraits are in some degree caricatures'
Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973).
Portraiture has a history as old as the hills. The portraits of the ancient civilisations of Rome, Greece, and Egypt depicted the nobility and deities of the period and were often in the form of sculptures carved from marble, stone, or cast in bronze. Portrait art mainly existed as commissioned works of public art. The oldest portraits are credited to the artists of the Old Kingdom of Egypt (2700-2300 BC). A portrait was the only way to record the appearance of an individual, however, Warren King’s representations are of a different nature, they are gushing at us with a moody uncanny look.
These raw, unsettling, abstracted human heads seem uncontrolled, imperfect, not static, but shifting and in flux. Their characteristic features are emphasised through King’s use of colour. An opulent grandeur of deep blue and teal tones with jewel-like flashes of orange, red and yellow present a world of dualism and contraction, which captivate our imagination. Some of the facial expressions exude disturbing and dark emotions, seeking to elicit responses of fear and suspense, whereas other contortions convey enthusiasm and joy.
King’s striking pictorial practice is influenced by several facets. First, Belfast during the troubles, where he spent his childhood years and was surrounded by hatred and killing, witnessing acts of barbarism. He was 13 years old when he escaped the violence in Catholic and Protestant Northern Ireland. His wise mother insisted that he and his brother would move to England, to avoid having her sons drawn into this pointless religious and political conflict. Second, the portraiture demonstrates King’s fondness for horror movies and the transformation a person undergoes, not only through gradual aging but also from physical and mental suffering, to become their true self. There seems to be no doubt that King’s bursting personages passed through his inner filter, opening up for us and revealing his disposition and self-perception.
Since his adulthood King has been painting, observing and developing his style. To him, human portrayal is a timeless instrument for storytelling and a protest against religious dogma, demonstrating that spirituality can exist independently from faith. As such the genre of portraiture is a fitting subject for his artistic practice.
Warren King exhibited widely, in 2022, at Pringle of Scotland in Mayfair and Lauderdale Gallery in Maida Vale. He was one of the recipients of the 'Turner Open Call Prize' at Turner Margate in 2021 and showed in the same year at Artemesia Gallery, Denver, Colorado, USA. 2020 saw him shortlisted for the 'New Emergence Art Prize' and exhibiting at the Hogarth Club, London.
His work was written about in the 'Made In Bed magazine’, Sotheby’s in-house end of year magazine, 2022. The painting ‘Divine Light’ was included in the publication ‘Quotes’ and Sonic Cathedral a record label, commissioned King to produce a series of sleeve covers, both in 2019. 'Cactus', a work on paper, was chosen for the front cover of Artist magazine’s December issue, in 2018. Furthermore, he participated at several group exhibitions in 2017 and 2016, such as UThink PDP, at the Riverside Building, the Apothecary Gallery, Fulham Town Hall and the Hogarth Club.
Warren Kings paintings are held in collections in the UK, Ireland, USA and Europe.
For further assistance about Warren King's work
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Newsletter:
Courtesy and © Warren King and Renée Pfister (text) 2024.
Video:
Courtesy and ©Warren King, Eric Matyas ‘Nighttime Escape_v001’ (music), and Renée Pfister Art & Gallery Consultancy, with the assistance of Gözde Altun, 2024. All rights reserved.