Charlie Burman

Following his recent battles with Cancer we are proud to be showcasing Charlies work with proceeds supporting MacMillan.

Launch date 25th September - 7pm
Exhibition running for 2 weeks

About Charlie

Charlie studied Fine Art at Coventry and collaborated extensively with community arts and youth organisations. They went on to work in small and medium-scale touring theatre as a performer, designer, and prop maker.

They co-founded a museum and exhibition scenic fit-out company, spending 10 years developing large-scale projects before moving on. Since then, they have worked as a scenic artist across film, television, and theatre, as well as designing and building escape rooms.

After retiring from freelance work in 2023, this exhibition marks their first major show in five years.

Extract from a Q&A session from 2019:

Q: After studying at Coventry you worked with various youth and community organisations on public art programmes, events and performances, eventually ending up working in theatre, film and television.

Working with highly-skilled artists in theatre, you say you learned some of the joys of applying glazes and colour washes, which has influenced the way you paint now.... Can you elaborate on this and how it has affected your creative process?

A: I think the most obvious influence from painting for film is working wet. When painting a scenic treatment on, say, a stone wall to match existing stonework, you have to look carefully at how the wet has affected the material, and work wet accordingly. In order for this painting to sit comfortably with the viewer: i.e. go unnoticed, it must have an authentic look - a `truth`. I try to bring authenticity into my work-not to `ape` what I observe, but to record my response to the light, colour, rhythms and form of what I`m looking at.

Q: What would you describe as the most significant development in your work over the years?

A: The greater use of washes and a greater immediacy and economy in applying paint - working wet.

Q: Which artists inspire you? Tell me more about how you draw inspiration?

A: Monet, Bonnard, Keifer, Hockney, De Stael. I draw inspiration from natural forms, and the rhythms in the landscape created by humans` interventions over many years.