Born in 1949, British artist Andrew Crane is known for his contemporary mixed media art. A member of the Contemporary British Painting group, Crane’s unique abstract art pieces are renowned for their experimental approach.
Andrew Crane’s paintings demonstrate a distinctive outlook. The artist incorporates letters and numbers – a combination of modern expressive forms and typography.
Andrew Crane’s Art Education and Career
London-born Crane developed his love for the written word in paintings while studying graphic design at the Central School of Art. The artist first developed his mark making practice with a career in typography and is a self-taught painter. Crane now enjoys an international following and has been featured in private and commercial collections alike.
During his time as an artist, Crane has exhibited worldwide. The artist’s abstract paintings, such as White poem (2010), have been displayed in the Saatchi Gallery, London. You can find Andrew Crane art for sale on Rise Art.
Andrew Crane’s Mixed Media Paintings
Abstract art by Andrew Crane invariably features materials gathered from the hardware store rather than the art shop. The muted tones of cement or plaster combine with soft washes of varnish, creating original contemporary artworks. Crane believes that the use of cement in these mixed media abstract paintings focuses his attention, so that he thinks of nothing else but the physicality of his work. Some of his artwork, such as Green, blue and yellow (2024), echoes the modern sensibility of artists like Mark Rothko, with evocative planes of colour.
In other paintings, Crane uses oil and acrylic to paint various shapes and symbols onto the canvas. The combination of colour washes and typography creates a visual poem, with letters and numbers becoming clues to be deciphered. This imbues Andrew Crane’s modern conceptual works with a mystical or spiritual element, infusing surface colour with meaning. In Social Media (2023), for example, repeated numbers suggest an algorithm, while unpredictable swirls instil the coding with a sense of raw emotion.
