Stephen Bishop’s paintings are often associated with the Dorset coast where he lives and works.
He is preoccupied with transformation and a yearning for the divine. Stephen stated, “I paint to find myself.”
Working predominantly with impasto oils and a rich palette. He often mixes oil and water mediums using unconventional techniques. His paintings oscillate in the fertile liminal space between abstraction and representation. His work exemplifies a visceral emotive response to the sea and landscape.
His painting ‘Mr & Mrs Roberts’ was championed by Frank Auerbach who selected it for the National Portrait Gallery Open.
Stephen is a regular artist in residence on Tresco, on the Isles of Scilly.
His current work is drawn from the rhythm of his daily sea swims, focusing on tension between realms - where light dances above and mysteries stir below.
Stephen Bishop’s art is exclusively available in mainland UK from the beautiful White Room – a gallery and working studio space in Bournemouth’s East Cliff district.
Visits are welcome by appointment.
When I saw Stephen’s painting ‘Maypole Dancers’ for the first time I felt in the presence of a magic I had previously known only through music.
Transcendent and mysterious, I felt it spoke to me with voices from the past, to guide a future. I had to have it. I had to live with it, as I do now every day of my life.
I have loved Stephen’s work for years and enjoy seeing him constantly experimenting and challenging himself to move into new areas.