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 is 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 experience informs his ongoing work. Working mainly in oil, the interactions of colour, gesture, surface and mark are explored as metaphoric articulations of the social and human. Reflexive fracture within the idealised order of the horizon and the scenic is the conceptual form.
Current Series
These paintings are a dialogue with the scenic as a familiar kind of image, with its idealised conventions placed under pressure so drawing attention to its premises. The anchoring horizon and its division of the elements is the activating architecture. A complex exchange is then intuitively shaped among geometry, abstraction, mark, gesture, layering, surface scoring and scraping with unexpected interactions of tone and colour. Titles are integral as adjacent commentary, inviting multiple associations or interpretations. The exploration unsettles the scenic as a given harmony, offering an aporetic space that questions the image in its making, refusing a settled coherence.
Sites: www.bernardcharnley.co.uk