ABOUT
Martin Goold is an award winning contemporary artist based in Dorset. He was born and grew up in London and studied Fine Art at Chelsea School of Art, completing a Post Graduate MA in 1984. He has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the UK for over thirty-five years and his works have regularly been selected for competitive curated exhibitions. In 2018, he was elected as a member of the Pastel Society.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Experience of place is central to my artistic activity. The encounter with natural and urban landscape sets in motion a myriad of associations and prompts, subsequent work bringing into play references and trajectories that reach beyond the depiction of appearance.
Atmospheric conditions tune the character of environments; I favour muted twilight, nocturnal light and vaporous air. I find the dissolving of recognisable form through the action of natural elements profoundly suggestive of the frailty of foothold. Moments of transition that mark the passage of time have special importance in my work.
Working in series opens up familiarity and possibility. Processes constantly seek balance between control and accident, and propose correspondence to the sensation of place.
Often methods such as spontaneous gesture are set against more measured graphic techniques, and together with the discourse between abstraction and figuration, seemingly impossible partners are brought together.
BIOGRAPHY
1961: Born in London
1979-80: Foundation Course; Chelsea School of Art, London
1980-83: BA Fine Art, Painting; Chelsea School of Art, London
1983-84: MA Fine Art, Painting; Chelsea School of Art, London
2018: Awarded the Henri Roche Prize
2018: Elected Member of the Pastel Society