Hurvin Anderson

Hurvin Anderson RA is a distinguished British painter whose work blurs the boundary between the real and the imaginary, infusing everyday scenes with layers of reverie, longing and nostalgia. His paintings draw on the genres of still life, landscape and portraiture, exploring themes related to identity, memory and the diasporic experience.

Born in 1965 in Birmingham to Jamaican émigré parents, Anderson’s upbringing in a multicultural environment and his keen awareness of his dual heritage have significantly influenced his artistic perspective. He studied at Wimbledon School of Art and Royal College of Art, London.

Drawing upon memories from his childhood and daily life, Anderson’s paintings create a strong sense of place. From barbershops, public parks and other spaces occupied by Caribbean immigrants in Britain, the artist explores conflicted feelings of belonging and alienation, using abstract visual devices that position the viewer just outside the parameter of the scene. His cinematic and glistening depiction of a public swimming pool, Audition (1998), sold for £7,369,000 at Christie’s London in 2021, a world auction record for the artist.

Anderson’s work has been exhibited widely in Norway, London, Chicago, Tokyo, New York, and belongs in the collections of the Tate in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C. and more. In 2017 Hurvin Anderson was nominated for the Turner Prize.