JOSIE MCCOY

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www.josiemccoy.co.uk Education         1998-1999        MA Fine Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London 1995-1997        BA (Hons) Fine Art, Solihull College, Birmingham Solo Exhibitions         2006 New Work, Opus, 16 Shakespeare Street, Newcastle upon Tyne New Work, Eyestorm Britart Gallery, Milan, Italy New Work, Eyestorm Britart Gallery, Ipswich New Work, Eyestorm Britart Gallery, Exeter 2004 New Paintings, Eyestorm / Britart, 18 Maddox Street, London 2001 The Royle Variety Show, Notting Hill Arts Club, Notting Hill Gate, London 2000 EastEnders, The Centre of Attention, 15 Cotton’s Gardens, London Selected Group Exhibitions         2007 Stone.Plate.Grease.Water, Museum for Modern Art for Wales, Machynlleth 2006 scope LONDON, Truman Brewery, London Sensuous Panorama, Lounge, London Castellón Painting Prize, Municipal Art Centre of Alcorcon, Madrid, Spain 2005 RCA Secret 2005, Royal College of Art, London II International Painting Prize of the Castellon County Council, Espai D’Art Contemporani De Castello, Spain Art 2005, Eyestorm / Britart at the Business Design Centre, London 2004 Bob’s Your Uncle, Eyestorm, 547 West 27th Street, New York Vector Vecteur, L'Espace d'animation des Blancs Manteaux, Paris Mothers, Oxford House, London Love N Bullets, Transition, London 2003 Science Fiction: Double Feature, Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, Birmingham Lexmark European Art Prize, Eyestorm Gallery, London Josie McCoy & Mimei Thompson, QUODart, Brighton BP Portrait Award 2003, National Portrait Gallery, London, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen Pop Culture, Beatrice Royal, Eastleigh Don’t you forget about me, Studio Voltaire, London New Directions: Art vs Mainstream Visual Culture, Plinth, The Cube, Leeds Faces, Mark Jason Fine Art, 71 New Bond Street, London 14 x 14, Century Gallery, London 2002 The Painting Class, The Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins, London BP Portrait Award 2002, National Portrait Gallery, London, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen Beauty's where you find it, Britart Gallery, London Golden, Britart Gallery, 60-62 Commercial Street, London Viva la Republique, The Centre of Attention, London Hunting Art Prizes 2002, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London 2001 14 x 14, Mafuji Gallery, London Art is Dead, Britart Gallery, London RWA Open Painting Exhibition 2001, RWA, Bristol BP Portrait Award 2001, National Portrait Gallery, London, Sheffield Galleries, Sheffield Art 2001, Britart at the Business Design Centre, London Salon The Centre of Attention Painting Prize, Identity UK, London 2000 Artfutures, The Barbican Centre, London Mighty Real, Dazed and Confused Gallery, Old Street, London Cable and Wireless Head Office, Theobalds Road, London BP Portrait Award 2000, National Portrait Gallery and Aberdeen Art Gallery Rowe and Maw, Fleet Place, London Directions 2000, The Lethaby Gallery, London 1999 Artfutures, Royal Festival Hall, London Marks and Spencers Head Office Figurative Show, Baker Street, London MA Degree Show, Central Saint Martins, London Secret Lives, Axiom Arts Centre, Cheltenham Events         2003 News BBC2, interviewed by Sean Brickell.16 March 2003. 2002 Dislocation with Notting Hill Arts Club, Victoria and Albert Museum, London Bulls and Bears, ITV, interviewed by Amy Gebler 2 April 2002. Centre of Attention Magazine: The Video Issue, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Galapagos, New York, The Green Room, London Selected bibliography         2006 Mangiarotti, Anna. ‘Cosi ho ritratto I’idillio dark delle dame di Wisteria Lane’ Il Giorno, 11 February 2006. 2004 Illera, Lotte. ‘Second Glance: Paintings by Josie McCoy’ Bolz, Issue 6 2004 2002 ‘Ever-increasing Artistic Circles’ The Scotsman, 10 December 2002. Edwards, Charlotte. ‘Dalston Underground Studios’ Art Review, July/August 2002. Aitch, Iain. ‘Soap on Canvas’ Wish, April 2002. Dunning, Matthew. ‘A Brush with Fame’ Fable, February 2002. 2001 ‘TV Heaven’ AN for Artists, October 2001. Greenstreet, Roseanna. ‘Questionnaire – Q & A Josie McCoy’, The Guardian (Weekend magazine), 12 May 2001. ‘Painting Prize’ Tema Celeste Contemporary Art, March/April 2001. ‘More Prizes’ Artnotes Art Monthly, February 2001. 2000         ‘Mighty Real’ Dazed and Confused, November 2000. 1999         Fletcher, Victoria. ‘Bianca’s return as the face of modern art’ Sunday Express, 19 September 1999. Pugh, Simon. ‘Eastend Girl’ Review (London Institute), 1999 Prizes and awards 2002 Woo Charitable Foundation Arts Bursary 2001 Royal West of England Academy Open Painting Exhibition 2001 - commended The Centre of Attention Painting Prize – first prize Collections BBC Collection of University of Wales The Centre of Attention Permanent Collection The Borchard Collection of British Self-Portraits in the 20th Century

I am currently working on a series of paintings and lithographs inspired by the idea
of the ‘American Dream’, and the inevitable darker subtext that is present in any
paradise.

Using oil paint like watercolour, I build up the painting in thin layers to make the
surface glow - an imitation of a television screen.  The unearthly colours accentuate
this.  The green hue references traditional techniques of painting, where green was
used as under-painting to give luminosity to the surface colour.  

Painting offers a version of reality in the same way as films do.  Working from
photographs of the television screen allows me to paint an isolated, spontaneous
moment, which the character hasn’t specifically performed for.  I paint portraits of
these unreal moments.  I pare down the image to include only the information
required for the character to be recognisable and for their expression to be conveyed
to the audience.  The viewer is presented with a split second of time, suspended in
paint.