STEVE WILDE – BIOGRAPHY
I started painting in 2018 after years of sporadically photographing wall textures and surfaces. These eventually became the source of inspiration for my paintings; buffed out graffiti, ghost signs, rust, peeling paint and weathered concrete all find their way into my works in one way or another.
Aside from a BTEC I did in graphic design in the 90s after being made redundant from my job in an arts bookshop in Chelsea, I have had no formal art training. I left school with one O-Level after being ejected from the 6th form in the late 70s and pursued a life in music, as a vocalist in a number of unsuccessful bands.
The graphic design course taught me little I hadn't already taught myself from books while producing graphics for the bands I was in but I was encouraged to do an A-Level in photography, which is where my interest in wall textures started.
Parenting and home-owning got in the way of any serious artistic endeavours and I spent 15 years working in IT until I was made redundant again and took early retirement.
I had been building up a list of unrealisable conceptual art projects while working, the restrictions being time, space and money. But now space was the only limitation so I channelled the ideas into painting.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings have a lot of texture in them, from sanded away layers of acrylic paint, to thicker layers of wall filler, sand, even rusted tin.
Focusing on the walls that I had photographed made me contemplate what these could represent and the phrase, "If these walls could talk"...
Maybe they can. Maybe the layers of peoples lives and the grime of modern living on our walls can tell us tales. That's where my fixation with walls lies. How to represent those things that had restricted me from creating any art for years; time and space.
For what do walls do? Protect us, contain us. They keep you out and me in [or vice versa]. They separate us, divide us, imprison, exclude. They are scarred by shrapnel, daubed with slogans [often redacted], art and pollution. They are repossessed and condemned and gentrified.
My textures are often accompanied by geometric forms, which again speak of space, also of borders. I am fascinated by the spaces we live in, how they are mapped; post codes, wards, parishes, boroughs, counties… Especially the liminal spaces, where town meets country. The edgelands. There are a lot of textures to be found in derelict industrial areas; businesses that have been failed by the government, the economy.
My work can address subjects such as homelessness and gentrification, conflict, belonging, time, loss.
CV
Hype [group show, digital art], Amsterdam, 2006
Photocopy Club [group show, photography], Beach Gallery, London E1, 2011
Untamed [group show, digital art], Mercedes-Benz, Paris, 2013
Bleeding London [group show, photography], City Hall, London SE1, 2015
Breathing London [group show, photography], Embassy of Croatia, London W1, 2017
In the Studio: Art by MoMA’s Online Learning Community [group slideshow] - MoMA, New York, 2018
London Calling [group show, phptpgraphy]: Photocopy Club, V3 Gallery, London SE1, 2018
Brixton Summer Art Show 2019, Brixton Library, London SW2, 2019
Steve Wilde: Random Features [solo show, photography] - The Great North Wood, London SE27, Oct/Nov 2019
Outsider Arts Festival, Deal Castle, Kent - November 2019
Townhouse Open, Spitalfields, London E1, September/October 2020
Brixton Winter Art Show 2020, [online due To Covid] December 2020
Brixton Summer Exhibition 2021, Brixton Library, London SW2, July 5-19 2021
Townhouse Open, Spitalfields, London E1, July 10-September 12 2021
Grover, Lenclos and Wilde, [group show] Curious Kudu, London SE15. 3-28 November 2021
The Print Shop [group show], Brixton Artists Circle, 151 Stockwell Road, London SW9, December 3-5 2021
Small Is Beautiful [group show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, Feb-March 2022
Print It 2022, [group show], Aire Place Studios, Leeds, April 4-8 2022
Pavilion People [group show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, June 15-July 2 2022
Brixton Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition - The Department Store, London SW2, July 1-3 2022
Brixton Summer Art Show 2022 [group show], Brixton Tate Library, London SW2, July 4-26 2022
Townhouse Open 2022 [group show], Spitalfields, London E1, July 13-September 4 2022
Dante’s Car Park 2022 [solo show] Brixton Tate Library, London SW2, 14-25 September 2022
A Matter of Life & Death [group show] Woodfield Pavilion, October 7-31 2022
Grover, Lenclos and Wilde, [group show] Curious Kudu, London SE15. 2-27 November 2022
New Faces [group Show], Sprout Arts, London SW16, 17-28 January 2023
Wilde| Woods [pop-up gallery/shop] Boxpark, Shoreditch, London E1, 3-9 April 2023
Not For Sale [group show], [various locations], Camberwell, London SE5, May-June 2023
Liminal Life [solo show], Sprout Arts, London SW16, May 23rd – June 3rd 2023
You Can’t Take It With You [solo show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, June 29–July 17 2023
Brixton Summer Art Show 2023 [group show], Brixton Tate Library, London SW2, July 3-27 2023
Through The Looking Glass [group show], Mall Galleries, London SW1, 28 Aug 28 – 2 Sept 2023
Anna Lovely Gallery Summer Open [group show], London SE26, 7 - 21 Sept 2023
Sprout Arts Open House, London SW16, 3 - 15 October 2023
Streatham Arts Festival [various locations], London SW16, 13 - 22 October 2023
Liminal [group show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16. 13 - 31 October 2023
Common Ground [group show] Ponsonby Central, Auckland, New Zealand, 23-29 October 2023
Woodfield Winter Exhibition, Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, December 6th - January 28th 2024
PRESS
Dante’s Car Park In Brixton Library Brixton Bugle
Art Radar, Five Questions With Steve Wilde
I started painting in 2018 after years of sporadically photographing wall textures and surfaces. These eventually became the source of inspiration for my paintings; buffed out graffiti, ghost signs, rust, peeling paint and weathered concrete all find their way into my works in one way or another.
Aside from a BTEC I did in graphic design in the 90s after being made redundant from my job in an arts bookshop in Chelsea, I have had no formal art training. I left school with one O-Level after being ejected from the 6th form in the late 70s and pursued a life in music, as a vocalist in a number of unsuccessful bands.
The graphic design course taught me little I hadn't already taught myself from books while producing graphics for the bands I was in but I was encouraged to do an A-Level in photography, which is where my interest in wall textures started.
Parenting and home-owning got in the way of any serious artistic endeavours and I spent 15 years working in IT until I was made redundant again and took early retirement.
I had been building up a list of unrealisable conceptual art projects while working, the restrictions being time, space and money. But now space was the only limitation so I channelled the ideas into painting.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My paintings have a lot of texture in them, from sanded away layers of acrylic paint, to thicker layers of wall filler, sand, even rusted tin.
Focusing on the walls that I had photographed made me contemplate what these could represent and the phrase, "If these walls could talk"...
Maybe they can. Maybe the layers of peoples lives and the grime of modern living on our walls can tell us tales. That's where my fixation with walls lies. How to represent those things that had restricted me from creating any art for years; time and space.
For what do walls do? Protect us, contain us. They keep you out and me in [or vice versa]. They separate us, divide us, imprison, exclude. They are scarred by shrapnel, daubed with slogans [often redacted], art and pollution. They are repossessed and condemned and gentrified.
My textures are often accompanied by geometric forms, which again speak of space, also of borders. I am fascinated by the spaces we live in, how they are mapped; post codes, wards, parishes, boroughs, counties… Especially the liminal spaces, where town meets country. The edgelands. There are a lot of textures to be found in derelict industrial areas; businesses that have been failed by the government, the economy.
My work can address subjects such as homelessness and gentrification, conflict, belonging, time, loss.
CV
Hype [group show, digital art], Amsterdam, 2006
Photocopy Club [group show, photography], Beach Gallery, London E1, 2011
Untamed [group show, digital art], Mercedes-Benz, Paris, 2013
Bleeding London [group show, photography], City Hall, London SE1, 2015
Breathing London [group show, photography], Embassy of Croatia, London W1, 2017
In the Studio: Art by MoMA’s Online Learning Community [group slideshow] - MoMA, New York, 2018
London Calling [group show, phptpgraphy]: Photocopy Club, V3 Gallery, London SE1, 2018
Brixton Summer Art Show 2019, Brixton Library, London SW2, 2019
Steve Wilde: Random Features [solo show, photography] - The Great North Wood, London SE27, Oct/Nov 2019
Outsider Arts Festival, Deal Castle, Kent - November 2019
Townhouse Open, Spitalfields, London E1, September/October 2020
Brixton Winter Art Show 2020, [online due To Covid] December 2020
Brixton Summer Exhibition 2021, Brixton Library, London SW2, July 5-19 2021
Townhouse Open, Spitalfields, London E1, July 10-September 12 2021
Grover, Lenclos and Wilde, [group show] Curious Kudu, London SE15. 3-28 November 2021
The Print Shop [group show], Brixton Artists Circle, 151 Stockwell Road, London SW9, December 3-5 2021
Small Is Beautiful [group show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, Feb-March 2022
Print It 2022, [group show], Aire Place Studios, Leeds, April 4-8 2022
Pavilion People [group show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, June 15-July 2 2022
Brixton Art Prize Shortlist Exhibition - The Department Store, London SW2, July 1-3 2022
Brixton Summer Art Show 2022 [group show], Brixton Tate Library, London SW2, July 4-26 2022
Townhouse Open 2022 [group show], Spitalfields, London E1, July 13-September 4 2022
Dante’s Car Park 2022 [solo show] Brixton Tate Library, London SW2, 14-25 September 2022
A Matter of Life & Death [group show] Woodfield Pavilion, October 7-31 2022
Grover, Lenclos and Wilde, [group show] Curious Kudu, London SE15. 2-27 November 2022
New Faces [group Show], Sprout Arts, London SW16, 17-28 January 2023
Wilde| Woods [pop-up gallery/shop] Boxpark, Shoreditch, London E1, 3-9 April 2023
Not For Sale [group show], [various locations], Camberwell, London SE5, May-June 2023
Liminal Life [solo show], Sprout Arts, London SW16, May 23rd – June 3rd 2023
You Can’t Take It With You [solo show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, June 29–July 17 2023
Brixton Summer Art Show 2023 [group show], Brixton Tate Library, London SW2, July 3-27 2023
Through The Looking Glass [group show], Mall Galleries, London SW1, 28 Aug 28 – 2 Sept 2023
Anna Lovely Gallery Summer Open [group show], London SE26, 7 - 21 Sept 2023
Sprout Arts Open House, London SW16, 3 - 15 October 2023
Streatham Arts Festival [various locations], London SW16, 13 - 22 October 2023
Liminal [group show], Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16. 13 - 31 October 2023
Common Ground [group show] Ponsonby Central, Auckland, New Zealand, 23-29 October 2023
Woodfield Winter Exhibition, Woodfield Pavilion, London SW16, December 6th - January 28th 2024
PRESS
Dante’s Car Park In Brixton Library Brixton Bugle
Art Radar, Five Questions With Steve Wilde