Joe Richardson’s practice emerges from regular drawing walks, where observational sketches become raw material for larger works in oil, acrylic, and cyanotype. Through instinctive marks and gestures, he evokes a visceral sense of immediacy, presence, and emotional charge, capturing and preserving embodied responses as they emerge.
Through walking and drawing, whether alone or in collaboration, Richardson connects with local spaces, noticing subtle shifts and cultivating a sense of presence. His works often originate in liminal or liminoid states, such as swimming pools, half-waking moments, and the crossing of thresholds. The paintings suspend the moment before plunging into a pool, stepping into a shower, or turning a front door handle. Richardson pushes ubiquitous and universal scenes through a process situated between abstraction and figuration, revealing forms that surface over time: a pool rail, a door handle, or two figures lying in bed.
Joe Richardson lives and works in South East London. A graduate of the MA Fine Art at Central Saint Martins, he has exhibited nationally and internationally, including at the Royal Academy Weston Studio, FIVE YEARS, OOF Gallery, Red Gate Gallery (China), La Louvière (Belgium), and Stokkøya (Norway). He recently completed a public commission for Creative People and Practices, Hounslow, and was a recipient of the Eaton Fund in 2024. Richardson has recently completed an MA in Academic Practice in Art, Design and Communication at UAL and will be undertaking a residency at Field Shelter, UK this Spring
