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Both, man and beast, become the subject in Stewart Swan’s paintings, embodying the impact of their harsh and unforgiving surroundings through dark but often humorous demeanours.
Stewart Swan is a Glasgow-based visual artist and designer. Through his drawings and mixed media paintings he attempts to portray the spirit of everyday faces through suggested narrative and the profound impact of body language and human expression. Innately melancholic and quintessentially Scottish, the artist’s body of work captures a prevailing atmosphere of dark humour, mirroring the daily life. Grounded and devoid of pretence, his paintings reflect the contrastingly gloomy but witty essence of Scotland’s collective consciousness.
Much like Francis Bacon, Swan delves into the surreal and grotesque. His canvases, filled with deep indigo blues, ochre-like yellows and a rainy greys, could be perceived as psychological explorations of the subjects represented on them, bringing to mind characters akin to Charles Bukowski’s creations, where their inner thoughts materialize through physical appearance.
Playing into the bleak and dreary atmosphere that resonates with the viewer on the level of relatable melancholy, Swan evokes a sense of familiarity with these characters, reminiscing of encounters in pubs and smoking areas, upon which we unconsciously project traits of these fictionalized figures onto fragments of our own memory. Additionally, the artist’s repertoire includes the host of anthropomorphised animals such as dogs, rabbits, and crocodiles – each possessing a strange human-like quality.
Realistic and grounded, but at the same time not completely devoid of the surreal, Swan’s work invites their viewers to indulge into the artist’s nihilistic worldview and uncover the hidden aspect of human nature, that one would often spend a life time concealing.
Stewart Swan has graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 2005 with a BA (Hons) degree in Visual Communication and since then has been working in a wide variety of media and techniques - drawing, painting, illustration, graphic design and digital imaging. Over the past ten years, Swan has developed and mature as a commercial painter as well as a skilled communicator through art, adopting a recognisable visual language that brough him success in showcasing works through a number of solo and group exhibitions.
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Works
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Exhibitions
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Zep Tepi
Stewart Swan 9 Jan - 1 Feb 2025This idea, linked to the creation of the universe and the establishment of cosmic order serves as the foundation for this new series of original paintings, bringing the Egyptian gods...Read more -
UNTITLED ART
Miami, Booth B20 3 - 8 Dec 2024Presenting these artists and more on our stand offers the gallery a prime opportunity to engage with the key US art market and its collectors as well as afford our...Read more -
Square Go
Stewart Swan 2 Feb - 2 Mar 2024A contemporary Glasgow-based artist, Swan’s creations reflect the city in which he lives and works. He draws inspiration from the people and characters he encounters day to day, which find...Read more -
Origins
Group Exhibition 1 Dec 2023 - 27 Jan 2024Paper is often the first medium an artist uses when developing their creative process or planning a larger scale piece. It is the works Origin, a sketch or scribble which...Read more
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News
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New works by Stewart Swan
New Paintings by Contemporary Scottish Artist, Stewart Swan May 10, 2024RHODES is thrilled to announce the unveiling of a new series of original works on canvas by Scottish contemporary painter, Stewart Swan . Following the...Read more -
Introducing Stewart Swan
Q&A July 4, 2023RHODES is exited to introduce Stewart Swan , Glasgow-based visual artist and designer, who attempts to portray the spirit of everyday faces through suggested narrative...Read more
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Press