Messums is delighted to welcome John Beard for his first solo exhibition with the gallery and to introduce a new body of painting 22 Vesalius. A series of monumental self portraits, they are unlike any he has made before. Vast numbers and letters are overlaid, their sweeping forms suggesting the outline of a face, curve of a nose or hollow of an eye. Harking back to his Welsh grammar school days he continues to explore important propositions about the role of painting today; his unwavering originality and distinctive brilliance on full display. It is a typically momentous introduction for his first exhibition with Messums.
John Beard's work has been exhibited worldwide and is held in the collections of major gallery museums and institutions including The Tate, The National Gallery of Australia and The Gulbenkian's Centro de Arte Moderna in Lisbon, Portugal.
The fully illustrated, 56-page exhibition catalogue includes an essay 'Metanoia' by art critic Sue Hubbard. Further writings include John Beard in conversation with curatorial director Catherine Milner and notes by the artist.