Tim Woolcock (born 1952 in Lancashire, England) is a Modern British painter painting in the tradition of the 1950s. His works have been exhibited nationally and internationally and are in private and public collections worldwide. In 2009 the Office of Public Works in Dublin, Ireland acquired one of his artworks for the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

LIFE & CAREER

Between 1963 and 1970, he attended Arnold School in Blackpool, northern England. In 1971, he attended Roehampton Institute (London University) to study Philosophy and Art. From 1974–1986, he taught in London schools. Currently he lives part of the year on a farm in County Carlow, Ireland where his studio is located.

STYLES & INFLUENCES

As a modern British painter Woolcock's landscapes have often been described as mystical in their composition.He has always shown an affinity with Zen and this is reflected in most of his work. The strong pigments used in his oil colour have also made his work distinctive.

The London Times] art critic Joanna Pitman wrote this about Woolcock's style and influences: "The scale and proportions of his work present an internal harmony, and this mood is completed in the delicate balance between form and the exquisite colours he uses. We see lyrical lines and geometric fragmented shapes...Woolcock has seemed to show an interest in Cubism and a wonderful sense of contour and drama. There is a meditative serenity in his colour variations which perhaps reflects the contemplative personality of Woolcock himself...his landscapes evoke the beauty and grandeur of the Irish Countryside"

EXHIBITIONS

2002 - St Giles Gallery, Norwich;

2003 - Bloxham Gallery, London;

2004 - Russell Gallery, London; Art London; Art Chicago;

2005 - Royal Society of British Artists; Russell Gallery, London; Art London; Langham Gallery, Suffolk;

2006 - Lemon Street Gallery, Cornwall;

2007 - Mark Ransom Gallery, London;

2009 - 13th Boston Fine Art Show;

2011 - Ransom Gallery, London;

2012 - Jorgensen Gallery, Dublin;

2016 - Paisnel Gallery, London;

2016 - London Art Fair, London;

2017 - British Art Fair 20/21, London. 

2018 - British Art Fair 20/21, Saatchi Gallery London

"There is an epic quality to the paintings of Tim Woolcock, one of our finest, if still inadequately recognised, modern British colourists. Having been working now for some 20 years in oil on plywood, Woolcock divides his considerable body of work into either landscapes or abstract pieces, both forms inspired by British rural or urban landscapes. But his landscapes, which evoke the beauty and grandeur of the English or Irish countryside, are in many ways also abstract in approach. Through his instinctive ordering of shape, colour and space, they offer the viewer a rich ambiguity and scope for interpretation that gives generous room for contemplation. The scale and proportions of his works present an internal harmony, and this mood is completed in the delicate balance between form and the exquisite colours he uses. We see lyrical lines and fragmented geometrical shapes – Woolcock has always seemed to show an interest in Cubism – and a wonderful sense of contour and drama, often heightened by his habit of scoring or scratching the surface of the painting. But above all we are seduced by the interplay between his subtle blocks of colour. There is a meditative serenity in his colour variations which perhaps reflects the contemplative personality of Woolcock himself.Now in his late 50s, Woolcock has been influenced over the years by British artists prominent in the 1950s, particularly those who were part of the St Ives school such as Ben Nicholson, Patrick Heron and William Scott. In his landscapes, which are often the result of walks in Ireland and in the south west of England, as well as in his abstract works, he has managed to stand back from the sometimes tumultuous experiments of many contemporary artists and has maintained a confident sense of meditative calm. Subtly they tempt our eye. It is a desire both primordial and atavistic, the need to discover and to experience. The beautiful and the sublime are swept away and we are presented with something more foreign and more intimate; that sense of a new beginning.” - Joanna Pitman, The Times