Richard Wright

Richard Wright, No title, 2022. Pencil and Golden Fluid Arcylics on wall. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin
Richard Wright is known for his site-specific and transient works that unite painting with graphic and calligraphic elements, charging architectural spaces with a subtle yet optical complexity and subverting the traditionally static dynamic between painting and viewer. His paintings and applied gold-leaf schemes are short-lived, oftentimes lasting only as long as the exhibition.

Richard Wright, No title, 2022. Pencil and Golden Fluid Arcylics on wall. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin

Installation view BQ, Berlin, „Richard Wright“, 06.12.2022-18.02.2023. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin
Alongside works on interior surfaces such as walls, ceilings, floors and windows, Richard Wright’s works on paper encompass a range of silk-screen prints, ink drawings, gold plate and watercolors. Additionally, the artist installs leaded glass into existing window or skylight apertures, inscribing his work into the fabric of the building. His interventions, utilizing various mediums, serve to shift the viewer’s perception of the space. As Sofia Karamani commented in her text for the Turner Prize in 2009: “Wright’s profound understanding of art and its history is reflected in his diverse imagery; minimalist patterns and baroque ornamentations to gothic iconography and typography. His wall paintings can occupy whole rooms, appearing convoluted and extensive, to create a sublime impact. Others, subtle and delicate, are awkwardly placed, claiming a modest existence on a ceiling, a cornice, the edge of a wall. As Wright invents alternative spatial arrangements, solid structures can look broken up, reconfigured, or seem transparent and fluid.”

Installation view BQ, Berlin, „Richard Wright“, 06.12.2022-18.02.2023. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin

Installation view BQ, Berlin, „Richard Wright“, 06.12.2022-18.02.2023. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin
Richard Wright was born in 1960 in London, he lives and works in Norfolk, England, and Glasgow, Scotland.
The first solo exhibition of his work took place in 1994 at Transmission Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. His work has been shown in exhibitions worldwide, including among others Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland (2001); Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Dusseldorf (2002); Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland (2004); Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (2008); Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2010); Theseus Temple, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (2013); and Tate Britain, London (2013). Wright’s public institutional commissions includes among others the Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany (2006); Dean Gallery, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2010); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (2013); and Queen’s House, London (2016).
Wright was awarded the Turner Prize in 2009.

Richard Wright. No title, 2022. Pencil, watercolour on paper, 27,9 x 22,6 cm. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin

Installation view BQ, Berlin, „Richard Wright“, 06.12.2022-18.02.2023. Courtesy BQ, Berlin; Photo: Roman März, Berlin