Gavin Lockheart
Gavin Lockheart's figurative paintings draw upon multiple sources including film and television, old family photos, and memories of travel. Characterised by the use of flooded, layered washes, his landscapes evoke a sense of nostalgia - whilst the characters that inhabit them often take on a translucent, ghostly quality.
Our recent group exhibition A Day at the Seaside included two luminous works on paper by the artist as well as a smaller painting (‘Her Background’, pictured above) inspired by a postcard of Clacton Pier. Evocative of L.S. Lowry’s crowded mid-Twentieth Century cityscapes, this contemporary interpretation - with its vivid pink pathway- illustrates Gavin's ability to merge multiple sources. As with many of his images the result is theatrical, and suggests both familiarity and mystery.
Gavin graduated from the Stourbridge College of Art in 1980 and Central Saint Martins in 1983. He has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, at venues including the South London Gallery, Jerwood Space, Vigo Gallery, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, and Galerie 21 in Cologne. He was awarded The Arts Foundation / Barclays Private Banking Fellowship in Painting in 1996. Alongside his practice, he has worked in the theatre and created backdrops for film for over a decade. He currently lives and works in south east London.
We were proud to show paintings by Gavin in our January 2026 group exhibition ‘Music From Out There’. Contact us to enquire.
Shop works by Gavin Lockheart
Acrylic on paper, 56 × 76cm
Gavin Lockheart's figurative paintings draw upon multiple sources including film and television, old family photos, and memories of travel. Characterised by the use of flooded, layered washes, his landscapes evoke a sense of nostalgia - whilst the characters that inhabit them often take on a translucent quality.
This framed work on paper is part of our ‘A Day at the Seaside’ exhibition and online collection. With it’s filmic quality, and tonal palette, ‘Big Dive’ evokes the theatriality that characterises Gavin’s paintings. The whited-out, silhouetted trees, and just-seen diving figure, adds to the image’s dramatic - and somewhat ghostly - stillness.
Gavin graduated from the Stourbridge College of Art in 1980 and Central Saint Martins in 1983. He has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, at venues including the South London Gallery, Jerwood Space, Vigo Gallery, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, and Galerie 21 in Cologne. He was awarded The Arts Foundation / Barclays Private Banking Fellowship in Painting in 1996. Alongside his practice, he has worked in the theatre and created backdrops for film for over a decade. He currently lives and works in south east London.
Acrylic on paper, 56 × 76cm
Gavin Lockheart's figurative paintings draw upon multiple sources including film and television, old family photos, and memories of travel. Characterised by the use of flooded, layered washes, his landscapes evoke a sense of nostalgia - whilst the characters that inhabit them often take on a translucent quality.
This framed work on paper is part of our ‘A Day at the Seaside’ exhibition and online collection. Featuring three statuesque figures in inky-dark water, it has the theatrical quality that characterises Gavin’s paintings. The artist says; ‘‘A Grand Plan’ was inspired by someone on Corfu telling me that the Albanians used to swim over to burgle homes. To evade the Greek coastguard, it was said that they used to put hollowed out melons - or footballs - on their heads’.
Gavin graduated from the Stourbridge College of Art in 1980 and Central Saint Martins in 1983. He has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, at venues including the South London Gallery, Jerwood Space, Vigo Gallery, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, and Galerie 21 in Cologne. He was awarded The Arts Foundation / Barclays Private Banking Fellowship in Painting in 1996. Alongside his practice, he has worked in the theatre and created backdrops for film for over a decade. He currently lives and works in south east London.
Acrylic on paper, 56 × 76cm
Gavin Lockheart's figurative paintings draw upon multiple sources including film and television, old family photos, and memories of travel. Characterised by the use of flooded, layered washes, his landscapes evoke a sense of nostalgia - whilst the characters that inhabit them often take on a translucent quality.
This unframed work on paper is part of our ‘A Day at the Seaside’ collection. Having begun as a painting of a ship seen over a wall, the artist says; ‘it was too blank so I ended up adding the two figures.’ The work’s title, ‘Exit this Roman Shell’, was taking from the lyrics of a song by The Fall called ‘Leave the Capitol’, which comments on the excesses of, and disallusionment with - urban life.
Gavin graduated from the Stourbridge College of Art in 1980 and Central Saint Martins in 1983. He has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad, at venues including the South London Gallery, Jerwood Space, Vigo Gallery, Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, and Galerie 21 in Cologne. He was awarded The Arts Foundation / Barclays Private Banking Fellowship in Painting in 1996. Alongside his practice, he has worked in the theatre and created backdrops for film for over a decade. He currently lives and works in south east London.