Contact
email alanshipway(at)gmail.com instagram @alanshipwayvisualartist
Biography
AS studied History of Architecture at the University of Edinburgh (1974-1978) and attended the postgraduate Advanced Painting course at St.Martin’s School of Art in London (1978-79).
One-person exhibitions have included Stallan-Brand, Glasgow (2025), the Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh (2021), the Briggait, Glasgow (2018), Galerie Weissraum, Kyoto (2013), the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2005) and the Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh (2002).
Work has been included in many group exhibitions, most recently in Makeshift (Summerhall, Edinburgh, 2023), Scottish Art: People, Places, Ideas (Edinburgh, City Art Centre, 2015), Drawn Away Together (Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, 2013), abstractcritical’s Newcomer Awards 2012 (King’s Place, London), Beyond Appearances (Edinburgh, City Art Centre 2007) and the John Moores 23 (Liverpool 2004). It is represented in the collections of the University of Edinburgh and the City of Edinburgh Art Centre, and in the British Library and the National Library of Scotland.
He received awards from the Scottish Arts Council, one of them a 12-month bursary,and was awarded a writing residency in 2011 by abstractcritical.com. Published writings have included reviews of the Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman catalogues raisonné.
Work
On the Practice of Painting
Anything can be painted without representation (Agnes Martin)
I prefer to make art with the simplest of means, with clarity and economy – nothing lacking, nothing superfluous. Simplicity and directness in themselves have always provided me with the right path.
What also interests me is painting which I would describe as open-ended, which seems to expose the mechanisms of painting itself, or brings into question its own conventions, in such a way that what remains is some aesthetic essential. To arrive at this essence, or to see it in other art, is invariably an experience of clarity and lucidity.
The goal is to have exactly what is necessary to achieve the work, no more, no less.
(Carl Andre)
CV
FEATURED IN:
2024 DEBUT: Inaugural &Gallery, Edinburgh
2023 MAKESHIFT (with Paul Keir and Nicky Hodge) Summerhall, Edinburgh
2022 SAINT NICHOLAS Meakin+Parsons, Oxford
2021 A QUIET SETTLING ON EARTH Kingsgate Project Space, London
2021 SUMMER EXHIBITION Royal Academy, London
2020 SITUATED: PLACE, ART, COLLECTION from the University of Edinburgh Art Collection: Edinburgh City Art Centre Travelling Gallery
2015 SCOTTISH ART: PEOPLE, PLACES, IDEAS Edinburgh, City Art Centre
2013 DRAWN AWAY TOGETHER Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh
2012 ABSTRACTCRITICAL: NEWCOMER AWARDS 2012 (with Gary Wragg, Carol Robertson et al ) Kings Place, London
2012 MARK OF BEAUTY Union Gallery, Edinburgh
2010 ABSTRACT MATTERS, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
2009 THE EDINBURGH SCHOOL OF PAINTING Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
2007 BEYOND APPEARANCES Edinburgh, City Art Centre
2006 NEW EDITIONS/SCOTLAND International Print Centre, New York
2004 DIRECTOR’S CHAIR Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh
2004 JOHN MOORES 23 Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
1999 ABSOLUT OPEN Inverleith House, Edinburgh
1984 OFFSHORE (NEUE MALEREI AUS ENGLAND) Kunstlerwerkstatt, Munich/ Stadtische Galerie, Regensburg
1981 CONTEMPORARY ABSTRACTION Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh
ONE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025 STALLAN-BRAND, GLASGOW
2023 MEAKIN+PARSONS, OXFORDSHIRE
2021 UNKNOWN QUANTITY (with Paul Keir) PATRIOTHALL GALLERY, EDINBURGH
2018 BRIGGAIT PROJECT SPACE, GLASGOW
2013 GALERIE WEISSRAUM, KYOTO
2009 DOVECOT, EDINBURGH
2006 PEACOCK VISUAL ARTS, ABERDEEN
2005 INGLEBY GALLERY, EDINBURGH
2002 ARCHANGEL, TALBOT RICE GALLERY, UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH
1991 369 GALLERY, EDINBURGH
1986 COLLECTIVE GALLERY, EDINBURGH