David Batchelor

Dundee, Scotland, 1955.
Lives and works in London, England.

David Batchelor is an artist and writer based in London. He studied Fine Art at Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham (1975-78), and Cultural Theory at Birmingham University (1978-80). For thirty years Batchelor has been concerned, above all, with all things colour. His work explores the experience of colour within a modern urban environment, and its historical conceptions within Western culture. Transiting between sculpture, installation, drawing, painting, photography and animation, Batchelor has exhibited widely in the UK, continental Europe, the Americas and, more recently, the Middle East and Asia. He is also a renowned writer, having written a number of books and essays on colour theory, including Concretos (2022), The Luminous and the Grey (2014), Found Monochromes (2010), Colour (2008), and Chromophobia (2000).

Dundee, Scotland, 1955. Lives and works in London, England

Education

1978-80 MA Cultural Studies Centre of Contemporary Cultural Studies University of Birmingham, Birmingham, England

1975-78 BA (Hons) Fine Art Trent Polytechnic, Nottingham, England

1973-75 Foundation Course Watford College of Art, Hertfordshire, England

Solo Exhibitions

2024 Woven Things, Cecilia Brunson Projects, London, England

2024 Transparent Things, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil

2023 I-Cons and Ex-Cons, Kestle Barton, England

2022 Colour is, Compton Verney, England

2022 David Batchelor | Alfredo Volpi, Cecilia Brunson Projects, England

2022 Disco Mecanique, Salisbury Cathedral, England

2020 New Work, Waddington Custot, Londond, England

2019 My Own Private Bauhaus, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2018 Psychogeometry 2 (curated by David Thomas), Site Eight Gallery, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

2017 Psychogeometry, Matt’s Gallery, London, England

2017 Chromatology, Ab-Anbar Gallery, Tehran, Iran

2016 Reef, Handel Street Projects, London, England

2016 Glowsticks, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil

2015 Monochrome Archive 1997-2015, Whitechapel Gallery, London, England

2015 Flatlands Remix, Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, Doha, Qatar

2014 Chromolocomotion, Terrace Wires Commission, St Pancras Station, London, England

2014 David Batchelor:Concretos, New Art Centre, Wiltshire; Salisbury, England

2013 Wall to Wall (curated by João Bandeira), Centro Universitário Maria Antonia, São Paulo, Brazil

2013 Flatlands, Fruitmarket Gallery, Endiburgh, Scotland; Spike Island, Bristol, England

2012 Magic Hour, GEM, Gemeentemuseum, Den Haag, The Netherlands

2012 Brighton-Palermo ReMix, Brighton Festival, Brighton, England

2012 Slugfest, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

2012 Magic Pavement , Pavement Gallery, Manchester, England

2011 2D3D, Karsten Schubert, London, England

2010 Chromophilia, Paço Imperial, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2008 The Backlights, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil

2007 Unplugged, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

2007 Unplugged (Remix) Wilkinson Gallery, London, England

2007 David Batchelor & Nikolai Suetin, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2006 Festival Remix (Christmas Lights Commission), South Bank Centre, London, England

2006 Candela V & VI, Ingleby Gallery (off-site) Old Royal High School, Edinburgh, Scotland

2006 Candela 7/450 (For the Death Star), Victorian Palmhouse, Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland

2006 Wilkinson Gallery, London, England

2005 Ten Silhouettes, Gloucester Road Undergound Station, London, England

2004 Shiny Dirty, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, England

2003 Spectrum of Hackney Road, Wilkinson Gallery, London, England

2002 Barrier, 38 Langham Street, London, England

2001 Shiny Dirty, Habitat, London, England

2000 Electric Colour Tower, Sadlers Wells Theatre, London, England

2000 Apocalypstick, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London, England

1998 Monochromobiles, The Economist Plaza, London, England

1997 Shelf-Like, Frame-Like, Note-Like, Byam Shaw School of Art, London, England

1997 Polymonochromes, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, England

1996 Polymonochrome Drawings, Soho House, London, England

1995 Serial Color, Curtain Road Arts, London, England

Group Exhibitions

2025 Lo tienes que ver — La autonomía del color en el arte abstracto, Fundación Juan March, Madrid, Spain

2024 Positions, part three (Curated by John Slyce), Alma Pearl, London, UK

2024 Summer Exhibition (Curated by Cornelia Parker), Royal Academy, London, UK

2023 Light: Works from the Tate Collection, The National Art Centre, Japan

2023 Colours in the Air (with Richard Deacon), Handel Street Projects, England

2023 Modern and Contemporary, Waddington Custot, England

2022 Hello MONO-HA!, White Conduit Projects, Inglaterra

2022 Chromophilia (curated by Tanya Barson), Hauser and Wirth, Switzerland

2022 Art is the Antidote, Museum Voorlinden, Netherlands

2021 Colour Space, Galleria Mucciaccia, Rome, Italy.

2021 House Share, Firstsite, Colchester, England.

2018 PRISM (curated by Chris Clarke and Fiona Kearney), Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork, Ireland

2018 The Everyday and the Extraordinary, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK

2018 The Monochrome: New Beginnings, JPNF Museum, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2018 Criminal Ornamentation (curated by Yinka Shonibare), Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester, UK

2018 Great Artists | Great Teachers, The Levinsky Gallery, Plymouth, UK

2018 Una Cierta Oscuridad (curated by Alexandra Laudo), CaixaForum Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

2018 The Everyday and Extraordinary, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England

2018 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, England

2018 Sette Opere per la Misericordia (curated by Mario Codognato), Capella del Pio Monte della Misericordia, Naples, Italy

2018 Monochrome: Empty & Full (curated by David Sequeira), Victorian College of the Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

2017 Ingleby Gallery Presents, Fitzrovia Chapel, London, England

2017 Totem: Spirit Beings & Sacred Objects, Saatchi Gallery, London, England

2017 Art of the Postcard, Handel Street Projects, London, England

2017 Roesler Hotel: Purity is a Myth, (curated by Michael Asbury), Nara Roesler, São Paulo, Brazil

2017 Between Poles and Tides, Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2017 Seven Works for Mercy, Italian Cultural Institute, London, England

2017 colour is, Waddington Custot, London, England

2017 A Certain Kind of Light, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne, England

2016 5 Years at Heddon Street, Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, Londres, Inglaterra

2016 Three Triptychs (curated by Mario Codognato), Galleria d’arte contemporanea a Napoli, Naples, Italy

2016 Night in the Museum, The Gas Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, England

2016 NEON: The Charged Line, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, England

2016 Seeing Round Corners, Turner Contemporary, Margate, England

2016 Light Show, CorpArtes, Santiago, Chile

2016 FOUND, The Foundling Museum, London, England

2015 Drawing Biennial 2015, Drawing Room, London, England

2015 In Light of the Monochrome, Dye House Gallery, Bradford, England

2015 Trial/Error/Art, The Holden Gallery, University of Manchester, Manchester, England

2015 Sprayed, Gagosian Gallery, London, England

2015 Light Show International Tour, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, New Zealand; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia; Sharjah Art Foundation, Sharjah, UAE; Benaki Museum’s, Pireos St Annexe, Athens, Greece

2015 Adventures of the Black Square: Abstract Art and Society 1915-2015, Whitechapel Gallery, London, England

2014 Colour on Paper, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil

2014 50 Years On: The Centre of Contemporary Cultural Studies, MAC Birmingham, England

2014 Black and White (curated by Cornelia Parker), Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, England

2014 Somewhat Abstract, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, England

2014 Uniquo, Galeria Carbono, São Paulo, Brazil

2014 Shelf Show, Galerie Tom Christoffersen, Copenhagen, Denmark

2014 Abstract Drawing (curated by Richard Deacon), The Drawing Room, London, England

2013 Why Painting Now?, Vienna, Austria

2013 White, Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

2013 Touching Colour, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England

2013 Fragile?, Le Stanze del Vetro, Venice, Italy

2013 Tell me whom you haunt: Marcel Duchamp and the contemporary readymade, London, England

2013 Light Show, Hayward Gallery, London, England

2012 Illuminated – QUAD Gallery, Derby, England

2012 Luz na Cidade, Centro Cultural Justiça Federal, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2012 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London, England

2012 The Curator’s Egg Altera Pars, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London, England

2012 Phantom Limb, LiMAC, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Lima, Lima, Peru

2011 Gravity’s Rainbow, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2011 Lumiere, various venues, Durham, England

2011 Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain, Whitechapel Gallery, London, England

2011 The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture Part 1, The Saatchi Gallery, London, England

2011 A Painting Show, Autocentre, Berlin, Germany

2010 Kupferstichkabinett: Between Thought and Action, White Cube, London, England

2010 Fast Forward – Arte Contemporânea Britânica no Brasil, Espaço David Ford, Centro Britânico Brasileiro, São Paulo, Brazil

2010 Biennale für Internationale Lichtkunst, Unna, Germany

2010 FIAT LUX, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo Gas Natural de La Coruña, Spain

2010 Open Light in Private Spaces: Biennale fur Internationale Lichtkunst, multiple venues, Unna, Germany

2010 The Gathering, Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England

2010 Party, New Art Gallery, Walsall, England

2009 Almost Nothing, Laure Genillard Gallery, London, England

2009 Boule to Braid, Lisson Gallery, London, England

2009 Repeat Please, Stedelijk Museum’s, Hertogenbosch, Holland

2009 Presque Rein III, Laure Genillard Gallery, London, England

2009 Colour Chart: Reinventing Colour, 1950 to Today, Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, England

2009 The Sculpture Show, V22, London, England

2009 Kaleidoscopic Revolver, Hanjiyun Contemporary Space, Beijing, China

2009 Better than Grey, Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery, London, England

2009 A Twilight Art, Harris Lieberman Gallery, New York, USA

2009 London Calling, Total Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul, South Korea

2008 Sculpture from the Scrapyard, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, England

2008 Conversations, Kettle’s Yard Museum & Art Gallery, Cambridge, England

2008 The Color Chart, MoMA, New York, USA

2008 1st Folkestone Triennial – Tales of time and space, Folkestone, England

2007 Passion Complex – Selected Works from the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan

2007 Art Car Boot Fair 2007, London, England

2007 Front Room / Killing Room, David Risley Gallery, London, England

2007 Rummage: Sculptors’ Drawings, The Winchester Gallery, Winchester, England

2007 Light, Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, England

2007 David Batchelor & Nikolai Suetin, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland

2007 Echo Room, Alcala 31 (organized in collaboration with the British Council), Madrid, Spain

2007 Shifting Ground, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham, England

2007 Abstraction: Extracting from the World, Millenium Galleries, Sheffield, England

2006 A noir, E blanc, I rouge, u vert, o bleu – Farben, Kunstmuseum Magdeburg – Germany

2006 off-site projects at the Palm House, Botanic Gardens and Old School, Edinburgh

2006 Thread, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, England

2006 Backdrop, Bloomberg Space, London, England

2006 Multiplication, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

2006 Materical World – Sculpture from the Arts Council Collection, Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow, Scotland

2006 Backdrop, Bloomberg Space, London, England

2005 Radiance, Off-site projects in the Merchants’ Quarter, Glasgow, Scotland

2005 Double Meaning, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil

2005 Extreme Abstraction, Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York, USA

2005 Contrabandistas de Imagenes, Museum of Contemporary Art, Santiago, Chile

2005 Untitled, Marc Selwyn Gallery, Los Angeles, USA

2005 David Batchelor e Joao Paulo Feliciano, curadoria de Jacopo Crivelli Visconti, Galeria Leme, São Paulo, Brazil

2005 The Art of White, The Lowry, Salford, England

2005 Tall Stories, MOT, London, England

2005 Colour my World, Riflemaker, London, England

2004 26th Bienal de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

2004 Sodium and Asphalt, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City, Mexico

2004 Chromosexuals, Galleri Bouhlou, Bergen, Norway

2004 Some Versions of Light, The Telephone Repeater Station, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England

2004 One Night Stand, PEARL at El Montan Motor Hotel, México

2003 In Good Form: Recent Sculpture from the Arts Council Collection, Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, England

2003 Embargo, Aubery Square, London, England

2003 Primary Colours, City Gallery, Leicester, England

2003 Days Like These – Tate Triennial of Contemporary British Art, Tate Gallery, London, England

2002 Furori Uso, Ferrotel, Pescara, Italy

2002 Colour Love, Johnson County Community College, Kansas, USA

2002 New Religious Art, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, England

2002 Henry Peacock Gallery, London, England

2001 Ruby, PEARL, London, England

2001 The Magic Hour: Art and Las Vegas, Neue Galerie, Graz, Austria

2001 Another Britannia, Tecla Sala, Barcelona touring to Foundacion Marcelino Botin, Santander, Spain

2001 Amidst Concrete, Clay and General Decay, Konstfack Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden

2000 Perfidy, Monastere de la Tourette, France and Kettles Yard, Cambridge, England

2000 British Art Show 5, Edinburgh, Southampton, Cardiff and Birmingham, England

2000 Fact and Value, Charlotttenberg Palace, Copenhagen, Denmark

2000 Give and Take, Jerwood Space, London, England

1999 NINENINENINETYNINE, Wilkinson Gallery, London, England

1999 Postmark – An Abstract Effect, Site Santa Fe, Santa Fe, USA

1999 Limit Less, curated by Matthew Higgs, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria

1999 East Wing, Courtauld Institute, London, England

1998 Then and Now, Lisson Gallery, London, England

1998 One Wheel on my Monochromobile, Limited Edition for Camden Arts Centre, London, England

1997 East International, The Sainsbury Centre / Norwich School of Art, Norwich, England

1996 Station Transformation, Central Bus Station, Tel Aviv, Israel

1996 Abstractions, Byam Shaw, Concourse Gallery, London, England

1993 Victoria Miro Gallery, London, England

1991 Approaches to Realism, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool; Goldsmiths Gallery, London, England

1990 Rotation, Esther Schipper Gallery, Cologne, Germany

Commissions

2019 King’s Xmas, Temporary site specific installation, Granary Square, England

2018 Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain, Site specific sculpture, Eddington, England

2018 Homage to Doctor Mirabilis, Site specific sculpture, Westgate Centre, England

2017 Sixty Minute Spectrum, Hayward Gallery, London, England

2017 P-A-R-A-D-E, Summer in the Square, John Hansard Gallery, University of Southampton, Southampton, England

2015 Lyric Hammersmith, London, England

2014 Chromolocomotion, comissioned by Terrace Wires, ST. Pancras International Station, London, England

2010 Spectrum on the Hill, site specific installation, Haman the Hill, Seoul, South Korea

2010 Big Rock Candy Fountain, site specific installation, Archway Tower, London, England

2009 Spectrum of 1st Street, site specific installation, 1011 1st Street, Washington D.C., USA

2009 Walldella, Dundee, site specific installation, McManus Galleries, Dundee, Scotland

2008 Hong Kong Fesdalla, site specific installation, The British Council, Hong Kong, China

2005 Against Nature, site specific installation, University of Warwick, Coventry, England

2004 Treasury Magic Hour, site specific installation, The Treasury, London, England

2004 West Wing Spectrum, site specific installation, St Bart’s Hospital, London, England

2003 Evergreen, site specific outdoor work, More London, Tower Bridge, London, England

2001 Electric Colour Picture, edition of 75 three-dimensional works, The Multiple Store, London, England

1999 Chromodesks, site specific installation, Pier Trust, London, England

1999 Quick Change Room, site specific installation, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, England

Collections

Aberdeen Art Gallery, Scotland

British Council, England

Government Art Collection, England

Leeds City Art Gallery, England

The Saatchi Gallery, England

TATE, England

Winter Light: David Batchelor, Sixty Minute Spectrum

Southbank Centre

Discover : David Batchelor on the fear of color

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag & GEM: David Batchelor Inspired by Mondriaan

Chromolocomotion

David Batchelor: The Fear of Colour | HENI Talks

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