James Gillick (born 1972, Norfolk) Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery 20th Anniversary Exhibition Catalogue is an artist who works in the figurative tradition. His studio is based in Louth, Lincolnshire. He is known for painting still-life work, and also other subject matter which include game paintings, portraits, horse paintings. He is also known for his work in church re-ordering and gilding.
Life and work Gillick gained a degree in Landscape Architecture from Cheltenham and Gloucester College in 1993. He is the son of Catholic activist Victoria Gillick,"Catholic Artist shows new work", The Catholic Herald, 10 April 2009. and theatre set designer and former UKIP county councilor Gordon Gillick."UKIP councillor Gordon Gillick: 'Poor, badly educated people are fat because they like it'", independent.co.uk, 24 July 2014.
James Gillick has an identical twin, sculptor Theodore Gillick.Lincolnshire Pride Magazine (August 2009) He is a cousin to 2002 Turner Prize nominee Liam Gillick, and his great uncle and aunt were sculptor Ernest Gillick and medallist Mary Gillick."The Shock of the new", Artists & Illustrators, pg. 34 (February 2007).
Gillick has a special affection for the Flemish, Dutch and Spanish masters of the 17th century, in particular Velázquez and work in the Bodegón style. Using techniques from this era, Gillick claims to handcraft all the materials he uses within his studio; including oil paints, waxes, glues, varnishes, canvases and stretchers."Today's Artists", Leisure Painter, pg. 34 (March 2006) He uses a limited palette of six colors plus black and white, having prepared the oils from ground pigments.
In 1998 he won a commission to paint Margaret Thatcher. The three-quarter length portrait was commissioned by the University of Buckingham to commemorate her six years as the chancellor of Britain's only private university. Thatcher is recorded as having been delighted with her portrait and supposedly commented, ‘Can I thank the artist for doing the impossible – a kind portrait of me in a way I would like to be remembered.’"The Portrait of a lady that united old foes", The Times (pg. 7), 4 September 1998.
In 2005, a portrait of Pope John Paul II commissioned by The Bishop of Nottingham, the Rt Rev. Malcolm McMahon, was completed. The portrait, as of 2009, hung in the Lady Chapel at St Barnabas' Cathedral in Nottingham, and an identical copy toured the country's parishes on request.
Gillick also completed various church restorations. This included the churches of St Gregory and St Augustine in Summertown, Oxford. This work included new reredos . Panels were painted featuring the patron saints St Augustine, St Gregory and the Virgin and child, plus a further ten panels in a type of iconostasis.
Exhibitions Gillick's work has been consistently exhibited at Jonathan Cooper's Park Walk Gallery, London since 2000. It has been included in several mixed exhibitions including; Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Mall Galleries and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters also at the Mall Galleries.
His work has also been exhibited at various art fairs including; Olympia Fine Art and Antiques Fair, BADA British Antiques and Fine Art Fair and the London Art Fair. He is often included in the annual RHS Chelsea Flower Show, the CLA Game Fair and the Burghley Horse Trials.Stanford, 10-11
References
External links
James Gillick Official Website Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery New Liturgical Movement article re: restoration work at SS Gregory & Augustine, Oxford January 20 2009 A short film of James Gillick at work in his studio spring 2009 St Austin Review article 'Painting Light' January/February 2009 transcript of ‘Silent Still Lifes that Speak’ Foreword from James Gillick’s 2007 Exhibition Catalogue by Gabriele Finaldi, Museo del Prado