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Biography

b. 1954, Manchester, UK
Lives and works in London, UK

Paul Winstanley is best known for his delicate paintings from photographs, which pull beauty from quotidian environs with tactile precision. Wavering between photographic realism and painterly softness, Winstanley’s works call into question the quiet psychology of public and private spaces.

Born in Manchester in 1954, Paul Winstanley lives and works in London. His work has been included in exhibitions since the 1970s, and over the past two decades it has been shown throughout the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and the United States. Recent solo exhibitions include The Persistence of the Sublime at Galerie Vera Munro, Hamburg, Germany (2023); My Heart's in the Highlands at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY (2022); After the War the Renaissance at 1301PE, Los Angeles, CA (2020); Faith After Saenredam And Other Paintings at Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2017); Art School at Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York, NY (2015); Everyone Thinks This is Nowhere at Alan Cristea, London, UK (2012); and Paintings 1989-2007 at Artspace, Auckland, New Zealand (2008).

His work has also been featured in numerous group shows, including like the light at the beginning of the world at Kerlin Gallery, Dublin, Ireland (2024); A Century of the Artist's Studio: 1920-2020 at Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2022); Winter Darkness at 1301PE, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Realitatscheck at Kunstraum, Potsdam, Germany (2019); Summer Show at the Royal Academy, London, UK (2018); Geometrics at Andreas Binder Gallery, Munich, Germany (2017); Conversations at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland (2015); Art and Existence at Esbjerg Kunstmuseum, Esbjerg, Denmark (2013); and Window to the World at Museo Cantonale d'arte and Museum d’arte, Lugano, Italy (2012). His first retrospective was held at the Auckland Art Space in New Zealand in 2008 and was accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue. Winstanley's work is represented in numerous public and private collections, including the collections of The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Tate Gallery, Great Britain; New York City Public Library, New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

All images © Paul Winstanley.