THE WEY GALLERY |  Basil Beattie RA

Basil was born in West Hartlepool in 1935 and studied at West Hartlepool’s College of Art from 1950-1955 and at the Royal Academy Schools, London.  He taught at Goldsmiths College, London for much of the 1980’s and 90’s.

During the 1980’s his work was very gestural and was characterised by its use of dark colours.  He later became interested in dividing the pictorial space into defined sections and in the 90’s he worked with various motifs that relate to apertures of many kinds, from doors to tunnels, conveying his belief in the importance of having a breathing space, or lung within the work.

“Beattie’s work is abstract in its concern with materials and technical procedure – but uses repeated symbols, especially stairs and tunnels to create the very different tensions and moods evoked by the titles.  He speaks of the blank canvas around the painted ideogram as a ‘place to breath’ rather than as ‘space’ his art is the visualisation of states of mind, in which images are more compelling or calming than words”  - John McEwen, The Sunday Telegraph.

In 2006 Basil was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Arts.  His work is included in the Arts Council Collection, London, Saatchi Collection and the Tate Gallery.