Ward, Richard
Biography:
Richard Ward was born in Oxford (England) in 1958. From 1976 to 1979, he studied philosophy at Trinity College in Cambridge. He then worked as a gardener until 1992. This work led to the founding of a gardening supplies company in Germany. His philosophical interest and his meditative-aesthetic approach to working in and with nature finally culminated in the need to engage more intensively with art. Ward therefore studied painting with Prof. Jerry Zeniuk at the Bad Reichenhall Art Academy from 2011 to 2013 and as a master student from 2014 to 2015. Today he lives and works in Dießen (Bavaria).
Richard Ward approaches abstraction, figuration, surface and pictorial space less from form than from color. The two-dimensional canvas surface turns into a three dimensional space in two ways: firstly, the artist transforms the flat surface into a relief-like structure of oil paint by applying a thick layer of colours. This means that the material already protrudes from the two-dimensional space due to its haptics, despite the fact that it remains an image. Secondly, the feeling of space and depth is also reinforced by the arrangement of the color fields applied with broad strokes. In Richard Ward’s work, these strokes of color increasingly lose the pure randomness of their arrangement, as the viewer can no longer avoid reconstructing their own visual habits in the picture. Four white strokes next to each other suddenly become a radiator, a wild cluster of strokes mutates into floral splendor, green strokes become leaves.
The fascination of the pictures lies precisely in the discovery that it is only simple, almost childishly drawn, abstract strokes and color fields, nothing more, that human vision converts into figuration. Richard Ward shows us how the human brain can easily do both: It can see abstract-planar and figurative-spatial at the same time. His paintings have much of the simple, tranquil garden idyll of a gardener in them, his still lifes are masterpieces of inner peace and satiety. This saturation is reflected materially in the rich heaviness of his brushstrokes. The paintings thus appear harmonious and balanced, simple and yet full of depth.
Richard Ward has been exhibiting his works internationally since 2014. He has been represented by LDXArtrodrome Gallery since 2024.
