His show, entitled People, Places & Things, showcases 100 of his paintings dating from 1980 to 2020, and is on until Sunday March 22. This is the final time Bryan will publicly exhibit his art, so the Times profiles the talented painter’s fascinating body of work, a lot which depicts life here in Tunbridge Wells.
Bolton-born Bryan Senior, now a long-time resident of Tunbridge Wells, is an acclaimed painter who studied at the renowned Chelsea School of Art and Cambridge University. He has had over 40 solo exhibitions in the UK and overseas, 17 of which have been in London.
Therefore, it is very fitting that his final show takes place in the capital at the world famous Mall Galleries, specifically the North Gallery, until Sunday March 22.
Bryan’s work is mainly figurative and depicts many ‘crowd’-style scenes in London, such as ‘Docklands Landscape’, ‘Figures at the British Museum’ and ‘Queens Walk’.
And the talented painter has often put paintbrush to canvas to visualise many scenes borne out of life in Tunbridge Wells. These include
‘On the Common’ and ‘Forsythia, Mount Sion.’
Bryan has also painted other local scenes in places such as Groombridge.
“I have remained committed to figurative painting, as I believe that the visible world is the only one we can honestly relate to,” he explains.
“Since 1980, compositions with people have been central to my output. A single figure establishes its own field, whereas groups of crowds call for a more complex balance of personalities and placings – linkages which add to the challenge, and to the visual interest.”
Bryan goes on to say that although his key themes tend to derive from the ‘everyday’, his aim is to ‘imbue them with a timeless and monumental presence which resonates beyond the original context’.
“No conscious narrative is intended, but during the course of focusing and refining, perhaps even as part of it, an element of mystery or drama tends to find a way of creating, as it were, an extra dimension,” he says.
For more details on Bryan Senior’s exhibition, visit courtgallery.com
