70 / 137
70
67 Neil Shawcross RHA RUA (b.1940) Coca Cola (2013)signed & dated 2013
oil on canvas
122 x 91.75cm (48 x 36in)
Provenance:
Private Collection
€2,000-3,000 (£1,739-2,608)
Neil Shawcross was born in Lancashire in 1940. He has been resident in Northern Ireland since 1962. Shawcross paints the figure
and still life, taking a self-consciously childlike approach to composition and colour. He sources his still-life subjects from his sur-
roundings, his home, local coffee shops and advertising. When representing a subject as simple as a cup and saucer or a bowl of fruit,
Shawcross translates the mundane domesticity of this object into a painterly statement invested with character. Objects are demar-
cated by thick outlines in black or bold colour and the work is characterised by a remarkable control of medium. A noted colourist
and technical innovator, his still-lifes exude vitality and demonstrate a freshness of approach to this much loved theme which he has
subjected to intense scrutiny over the years.
He has exhibited nationally. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Ulster Academy of Art in 1975, and was made a full Acad-
emician in 1977. He won the Academy’s Conor Award in 1975, its Gold Medal in 1978, 1982, 1987, 1994, 1997 and 2001, and the
James Adam Prize in 1998.