Eric Butcher

Eric Butcher (born 1970) is a contemporary British abstract painter known for his reductive, processed-based approach.

Butcher read philosophy at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating in 1994 and completed an MA in Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art in 2001. He has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally with shows in Germany, Italy, Australia and the USA. He currently shows with Toomey Tourell gallery, San Francisco, Galerie Robert Drees in Hannover and Patrick Heide Contemporary Art.

He has received awards from the Arts Council, England and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. He has also held an Arts Institute at Bournemouth Research Fellowship (now the AUB ) and the Centre for Arts International Research/Liverpool College of Art & Design, Liverpool John Moores University, Multiple Perspectives Fellowship (2007). (now Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize) alongside artists such as Barbara Walker (artist) and selected by writer/curator, David Dibosa; Helen Legg, director of Tate Liverpool (then director of Spike Island Artspace); and Michael Simpson (painter). In 2020 Butcher exhibited Sweet Heresy, his second solo show at Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, which coincided with the release of Time Trial, a newly published 160-page hardback catalogue of his recent work.

In recent years Butcher has been shortlisted for the Derwent Art Prize 2022, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2024, the Contemporary British Painting Prize 2024, and the John Ruskin Prize and Evelyn Williams Drawing Award in 2025.

Early life and education Eric Butcher was born in Singapore in 1970 to a Dutch mother and British father. Shortly after he was born the family moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then settled in the UK in Hampshire, England in 1974. After leaving school at 16 he spent two formative years studying art at Basingstoke College of Technology, after which he undertook A Levels at evening classes and eventually found his way to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, reading philosophy and graduating in 1994. After several years of developing his work in relative isolation he returned to art school and in 2001 he completed an MA in Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art. He has worked for the past twenty years from a rural setting in his studio in Oxfordshire a converted barn and a place of tranquility, creativity and precision. in Butcher's practice, reflecting a deepening investigation into his legacy and a deliberate dismantling of his earlier pieces.

Conceptual Framework

For years, Butcher's practice has involved the incremental building up, and stripping back, of paint over a surface. With Endgame the artist has pulled apart his former practice, peeling away the layers of paint from their supports and re-presenting the resulting fragments—an approach that now informs all of his future work ("He intends to use only materials already available in the studio, repurposing and recycling without consuming new resources"). Set within sheets of glass, like scientific specimens, these fragments collect the 'natural history' of his creative past.

Endgame will use his existing materials as a resource for as long as possible, until there is no longer anything left to create from. This composed physical presence was inherent in even the most restrained of Butcher's works, as William Packer would go on to say in his introduction to Butcher's 2005 catalogue, Carbon Candy, ‘even when hung conventionally, flat to the wall, they remain obviously and directly physical’. Although characterised by their appearance – an abstract ‘accretion of paint, resin and various other fluids’ - their manufacture was faithful to the rules that govern Butcher's creative process. Butcher has said of his practice that ‘the application or subtraction of paint as a set of processes is achieved through a variety of continually evolving techniques which draw attention to the physical properties of my materials’, a result that would be most clearly manifest in his subsequent metal works. The introduction of metal as a support revolutionised Butcher's creative output and his approach to the act of painting, ‘it may just be a flat piece of metal... But they all have little nicks, edges and imperfections... the result is an accumulation of what I have learnt about that surface’. pulling a thin transparent monochrome of oil and resin over the metal support, ‘this procedure is then repeated and repeated, building up a surface of accumulated residues'. 'Paint is registered in vertical and horizontal bands across the surface of the metal plane, with areas of metal left unpainted and its polished face exposed to the viewer. the colour is omitted and the bare aluminium emerges. As a result, two rhythms arise; on the one hand the colour fields are interrupted by sections of contrasting colour, and on the other hand we have the various degrees of paint application, which range from impasto to diaphanous. They completely cover the aluminium, yet also let it shimmer through'.

Although Butcher has a uniform approach to each work, Almost every piece will seek to preserve some element of the metal as well, ‘the aluminium asserts itself as the artwork's true substance’. compared with the perfection of machine production. The painted surface, which registers any deviation from its 'flat, featureless monochrome is predicated upon error or impurity, human or material'. 'The finished piece represents an accumulation of what [he has] learnt about that particular surface through successive applications and subtractions'.

Site-specific installations For the Material Witness exhibition at Toomey Tourell gallery in 2010, Butcher exhibited fourteen of his painted aluminium extrusions. Hung vertically and spaced asymmetrically with a measured and careful distance between one another, he deals with the scale and arrangement of works by Roger Ackling, Marc Vaux and Cathy Wade, as well as his own. Butcher's attempts within his own works in that exhibition to, ‘engage the space around the painted surface’ 'subtle and stunning, installed in space dispersed over corners, corridors or in staircases they become architecture in motion'. This methodology can be seen in the lengths, or fragments, of aluminium that 'seem to cling to the wall [in his installations]. In part driven by chance, and yet still composed according to a strict order'. as Butcher says in his recent catalogue, Time Trial. 'As soon as I started to consider the intersections between surfaces and the wall, I was naturally, logically led to a consideration of the whole environmental context of the work and hence to site-specificity.'

Although the components of these installations appear to 'cling to the wall',

Paperworks

As a consequence of this preoccupation with installation, some of Butcher's most recent pieces, his works on paper, experiment diagrammatically with possible arrangements for his large-scale installations of aluminium pieces, 'they repeat the principle of the aluminium works in their own specific way' In these paper works, impressions of metal plates are embossed into sheets of saturated paper by running it through a printing press. Some sections of the plates’ impressions are then highlighted by ink, whereas some sections are cut out altogether – some left purely as a trace.

Shortly after the death of his father, Butcher created a series of works from gunpowder residue and clay on burnt paper. These found 'drawings' were from 'spent fireworks cartridges from a beach display [that] had been casually tossed into the sea'. 'Eric started to gather them up for more suitable disposal. Then he became interested in how the spent energy had left its marks, especially as those traces were – in line with the aims of his wider practice – free from the subjectivity of creative decision making'.

The artist is also re-evaluating his own resources through his use of paper, taking environmental concerns into the work itself. As he says in the Time Trial catalogue, '[in] trying to consume less, tread more lightly on the planet, it would be curiously contradictory not to impose the same logic of questioning on my work. Aluminium production is an energy intensive business, so I am increasingly using recycled and reused materials'.

Exhibition history Year Selected Solo Exhibitions Gallery/Museum 2022 An End Always Has a Start Saturation Point, London 2020 Sweet Heresy Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London 2018 Artificial Light Nancy Toomey Fine Art, San Francisco, USA 2015 Data Capture Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London 2013 A Synthetic Kind of Love Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany 2010 Material Witness Toomey-Tourell gallery, San Francisco, USA 2007 Honey Trap Toomey-Tourell gallery, San Francisco, USA 2007 Static Interference Vertigo gallery, London 2005 Hanging Garden Text + Work, the Art Institute at Bournemouth 2005 Arte Fiera Vertigo gallery, Bologna, Italy 2004 Carbon Candy Vertigo gallery, London 2003 Arcs + Surfaces Vertigo gallery, London 2002 Cusp (two-person with Rebecca McLynn) Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London 2000 A Line of Enquiry The Loading Bay, London 1999 The Antidote The Loading Bay, London 1997 New Paintings Concord Sylvania, London 1997 The Painted Figure (two-person with Gabriel Schmitz) Hirschl Contemporary Art, London 1995 Lingering in Chambers of the Sea The Acorn gallery, Liverpool 1995 New Paintings Gallery 28, Reading 1993 Coming Up for Air Engert Haus, Munich, Germany 1991 Beata Clarisa Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

Group exhibitions Eric Butcher has participated in many group shows including "The Waterlilly Foundation", Cambridge Guildhall (1994), "The Genitals Are Beauty", The House of William Blake, London (1995), "The Art Experience", The Atrium Gallery, London (1997), "Wall to Wall", Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London (2002), "Paperwork" and "30 x 30", Vertigo Gallery, London (2003), "Surface", Vertigo Gallery (2004), the touring exhibition "Definite Article" with Roger Ackling, Marc Vaux and Cathy Wade, Vertigo gallery, London and Toomey-Tourell gallery, San Francisco, USA (2005/6), "Meeting Place - Contemporary Art and the Museum Collection", Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth and the Arts Institute at Bournemouth (curated by Stephanie James & Jackie Serafopoulos) (2007), "Underground", Shoreditch Town Hall basement, London (three-person with Roger Ackling and Simón Granell) (2007), "Ten", Toomey-Tourell gallery, San Francisco, USA (2008), "Über Flächen", Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany (2010), "Raw", Pertwee, Anderson & Gold, London, (2011), "Beyond the Commission", The Gallery, Arts University College Bournemouth (2011), "One Thing Leads to Another", Portland House, Malvern (2011), "The Devil Finds Work for Idle Hands", Toomey-Tourell gallery, San Francisco, USA (2012), "ReGroup", Red Space, London (2012).

Group exhibitions 2013—2020 include the touring exhibition "A Machine Aesthetic", Gallery North Northumbria University, Newcastle; The Gallery, AUB, Bournemouth; Project Space Plus, University of Lincoln; The Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts; Transition Gallery, London, "Down to Zero", Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, London (curated by Michael Roberts), "(Detail)", H Project Space, Bangkok, Thailand; Usher Gallery, Lincoln; Transition gallery, London (curated by Andrew Bracey) (2014), "An Einem Tisch - Contemporary Geometrical Abstraction", Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany, "Beyond Gravity II", Galerie und Kunstcabinett Corona Unger, Bremen, Germany (2016), "OVADA Seven Counties Open", OVADA Warehouse, Oxford, "The Jerwood Drawing Prize", Jerwood Space, London, East Gallery, Norwich, The Edge, Bath, Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury Vane Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, "Mardi Gras Requiem", Project Space Plus, Lincoln (2017), "Intensity", the House of St. Barnabas, London (curated by Paul Carey-Kent), "Einsnullnull", Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany (2018), "Everything but Canvas", Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany (2019), and "Invited By", Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover, Germany (2019/20).

Group exhibitions 2022/23 include “Accrochage" // [akrɔˈʃaːʒə], Galerie Robert Drees, Hanover, Germany (2022), "Royal Academy Summer Exhibition” (Curated by Grayson Perry), Royal Academy of Arts, London (2022), "An Exhibition of Small Things with Big Ideas", White Conduit Projects, London (2022), "Derwent Art Prize", OXO Gallery, London (2022). "Perpetual Arrival", Platform A Gallery, Middlesbrough (2023), "I Want You to Panic", Zuleika Gallery, Woodstock (2023), "Curated at Dorfold: British Art Then and Now", Dorfold Hall, Cheshire (2023), "The New Accelerator", Ruskin Gallery, ARU, Cambridge (2023), "Die Wat Spaart, Die Wat Heeft", Galerie Robert Drees, Hanover, Germany (2023), "A Territory of Oneself", Zembla Gallery, Hawick, Scotland (2023).

Group exhibitions 2024—present "Group Exhibition Brussels", Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, Brussels, Belgium (2024), "Update #Summer", Galerie Drees, Hanover, Germany (2024), "Taking Time", The Cut, Halesworth (2024), "Royal Academy Summer Exhibition” (Curated by Cornelia Parker), Royal Academy of Arts, London (2024). "Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize", Buoy Store, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London; Salisbury Museum; Falmouth Art Gallery, Drawing Projects UK, Dundee; Manchester Waterside Gallery (2024/25), "Contemporary British Painting Prize", BayArt Gallery, Cardiff; Thames-Side Studios Gallery, London; Huddersfield Art Gallery Curates at Yorkshire Artspace: Persistence Works, Sheffield (2024/25). "A Bell is a Cup Until it is Struck", BLOC Projects, Sheffield (2025), "Colour Rush", Poimena Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (2025), "40 Dimensions", &Gallery, Edinburgh (2025), "RWA Biennial Open 2025: Paperworks", Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (2025), "John Ruskin Art Prize", Buoy Store, Trinity Buoy Wharf, London (2025).

Curating Butcher's creative practice has also embraced curating; initiating exhibitions/projects including Emission (2001), Definite Article (2005/6), Underground (2007), The Devil Finds Work for Idle Hands (2012) and A Machine Aesthetic (2013/14). A Machine Aesthetic (co-curated with Simón Granell), was a major national touring exhibition presenting the work of 11 contemporary British artists whose creative practices engaged with the concept of mechanisation. The exhibition explored the various manifestations, uses and influences of different aspects of mechanisation within the practices of an otherwise diverse group of artists (with Andrew Bracey, Eric Butcher, David Connearn, Rob Currie, Paul Goodfellow, Simón Granell, Emma Hart (artist), Dan Hays, Natasha Kidd, Tim Knowles, Michael Roberts). In conjunction with the exhibition, the curators guest edited an edition of the arts and culture magazine Garageland (issue XVI: Machines), which was themed to coincide with the show.

The Devil Finds Work for Idle Hands explored the materiality of paper with work by six contemporary artists (Rana Begum, Michael Brown, Eric Butcher, Simón Granell, Natasha Kidd, John Lavell). It was an exhibition of artists who work with paper; with each artist making work exploiting properties intrinsic to the material.