Nathan Eastwood

Born in 1972 in Barrow-in-Furness, UK, Nathan Eastwood is a social-realist painter currently based in Kent. Nathan paints everyday domestic and urban scenes of people he records on his mobile phone. These minimalist, monochromatic enamel paintings are allegories for life, social relations and our shared existence. In his so-called mundane scenes of everyday realism, we discover a self-contained realm of quiet yet undeniable beauty.

Nathan Eastwood’s Style and Practice

Nathan graduated from Byam Shaw School of Art in 2009. His process is both spontaneous and meticulous. He begins by photographing the East End of London on his camera phone. He then uploads the photographs onto his computer before manipulating them in Photoshop and printing the final images. He uses these black and white photographs as his reference material. Nathan then takes to the canvas to build up sensitive layers of thin paint to achieve a refined yet affecting tonal depth, loading his displays with a characteristic melancholy. By highlighting these domestic routines, Nathan reminds us of the soothing repetitive order life takes when everything is stripped back and simplified. The ordinary and disregarded are elevated and reveal the essence of human dignity.

Awards and Exhibitions

Nathan was a finalist in the 2007 Celeste Art Prize and the 2012 John Moores Painting Prize. His breakthrough showing of the painting Nico’s Café won him the inaugural East London Painting Prize in 2014. As part of the award, he went on to have his first major solo exhibition at the Nunnery Gallery. Among his fans, you will find world-famous collector Anita Zabludowicz.