Simon Quadrat PPRWA

In this intimate solo exhibition, Simon Quadrat RWA explores notions of place and memory, evoking visons of the past that are at once nostalgic and full of narrative possibility.

Post-war landscapes are scratched, scraped and layered with echoes from another time. Fusing real and imagined imagery from his childhood in 1950s London, his migrant ancestors and his own travels, Quadrat constructs landscapes from the industrial cityscapes, abandoned fairgrounds and weathered buildings of his imagination.

The off-kilter, self-contained worlds that Quadrat creates, where figures disappear and reappear amongst worn streets and flattened buildings, are like surreal stage-sets or decayed dioramas. In his more imaginary works, Italian collonades, byzantine domes and the soot of London’s factories sit beside helter skelters and bustling harbours. These layered, literary landscapes are places which exist as much in the mind as in paint.

Quadrat was elected an RWA in 2004 and was President between 2010 and 2011. In 2015 he became the New English Art Club’s newest member. He is represented by Panter and Hall, London.