tony mccorry

I make very simple paintings based on my observations and the memories I have of places I have lived in or have been to.

In Sunderland during my degree I painted what was outside the college windows and out of the bedroom windows of bed-sits and shared houses I lived in. During my MA studies I painted shut down Birmingham pubs from photographs taken from the car window.

The pattern of my production seems to fluctuate between these two ways of working ie: I will do a series from memory then a series from photos. The physical appearance of these two types of work appears to be growing closer (which I am quite happy about).

My works are all based on the built environment and are usually about Housing; usually housing in its most basic form as found on public housing schemes or estates.

The selection of the actual subject for a work is often a slow process, with ideas considered for extended periods of time.

When other people have written about or commented on my work they often mention the similarity between the images and simulated or computer generated environments. This is not intentional as the paintings are worked to their conclusion with motives that are mainly unconscious apart from a desire to present works that are concerned with colour, shape and form.

Education

1999 -2001         MA Fine Art Coventry University
1988 -1989         PGCE Art and Design Liverpool Polytechnic
1983 -1986         BA (Hons) Fine Art Sunderland Polytechnic

Solo Shows

2003                 British Estates, Standpoint Gallery, London
2003                 Tony McCorry, The Circle Gallery, Edinburgh
1995                 Flat (installation), 23/42 Gallery, Colchester
1993                 Out the Window, Trinity Street Studios, Colchester

Selected Group Exhibitions/Events

2006                 Dark River, ING Bank, London
2006                 Town and Country, Frances Hair Salon, London.
2006                 Contemporary Irish Art, CIA, Tower Bridge Piazza.
2005                 Summer Show, Foster Art, London
2005                 Open Painting, Royal West of England Academy
2004                 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London.
2002                 Peterborough Prize, Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
2002                 Flatlands, Pump House Gallery, London
1997                 Avignon U97, Biblioteque Municipale, Avignon, France
1997                 Urbane, Islington Arts Factory, London
1995                 Kettles Yard, Kettles Yard, Cambridge
1995                 Essex Open, The Minories Gallery, Colchester

Awards

2002 & 2001     Creative Ambition, West Midlands Arts

Other / Business / Employment

Worked in education since 1990