CV
1966-7 / Foundation / Maidenhead College of Art
1967-70 Dip AD Course / Leeds College of Art
2002-4 MA Philosophy Open University
Upcoming: ‘Nexus’, Station Gallery, Frome. 2nd Aug - 13 Sept. 2026 (group)
Selected exhibitions:
2026 / Brampton Museum / Stoke on Trent / group exhibition
2025 / OS group exhibition / Frome
2022 / Rugby Open / group exhibition
2019 / Coventry Open / group exhibition
2018 / Colour Radicals / solo exhibition / Rugby Art Gallery
2016 / John Moores Painting Prize / group exhibition / Walker Art Gallery / Liverpool
2014 / Signs Of Disorder / solo exhibition / Rugby Art Gallery
2011 / Motel Knadski /Trajector Art Fair / Contributing Artist / Brussels
2011 / Kiss Me Quick / group exhibition / Harbour Arm Gallery / Margate
2011 / Airvent /AirSpace Gallery/ solo exhibition / Stoke-on-Trent
2010 / There Is Beauty In The City / group exhibition / Ezcurdia_30 Galler / Gijon / Spain
2009 / The Instability of Spaces / solo exhibition / AirSpace Dialogue Box
2010 / Common Ground /AirSpace group exhibition / Stoke-on-Trent
2009 / Inter?ogation / Collaboration / Walsall New Art Gallery.
2009 / Marina Abramovich / group participant / Whitworth Gallery / Manchester.
2009 / Aftermath / AirSpace studio artists / Leek Institute / Leek
2008 / Short Cuts /group exhibition / AirSpace Gallery / Stoke-on-Trent
2008 / Salon / D2 Gallery / Leipzig / Germany
Bio
Bernard Charnley is an English painter born in 1948 in Reading and now based in Frome, Somerset. Charnley trained in graphics and painting at Leeds College of Art. His interest and study in philosophy led to graduating from the Open University with his MA. This informs a body of work that, through distinct series and ranging between figuration and abstractIon, offers imaginative reflections on a world shaped by social and ecological uncertainty.
Current selection
These contemporary oil paintings engage with the zeitgeist of crises through a critical visual dialogue. Balancing abstraction and figuration around an anchoring horizon, they explore spatial tensions between geometry, surface and illusion, using the elemental forms of land, sea and sky as metaphoric structures rather than descriptive motifs. An intuitive gestural process builds complexity through accumulated paint layers. Redemptive energy permeates the colour palette. Scraping, scoring and reworking create an unsettled suggestive surface. Chance phrases in the titles further disrupt meaning, inviting multiple interpretations.
Sites: www.bernardcharnley.co.uk