How we met the artist:
'Eric’s work was visually in my head for years and familiar through his German gallery, though it needed a nudge from my gallery director Clara to do a studio visit, which often makes all the difference. Eric’s studio, a converted barn in the countryside is a place of tranquility, creativity and precision. To push paint along shaped pieces of aluminum while letting slight changes in pressure and imperfections in the material determine the colour code and composition can only derive from an astonishing mixture of skilled workmanship and artistic obsession. The resulting surfaces are subtle and stunning, installed in space, dispersed over corners, corridors or in staircases they become architecture in motion.' - Patrick Heide
About:
Eric Butchers’ current practice emerges from the deliberate destruction of his previous works, reflecting a deep investigation into his studio practice and a response to growing environmental anxiety. Faced with the overwhelming ecological crises confronting the world, Butcher’s former approach to art-making began to feel vain, selfish, and indulgent. To address these concerns, he undertook a forensic-like examination of his entire practice, dismantling works both intellectually and physically. The paint was peeled from aluminium supports and categorized into a basic taxonomy. These remnants—skins, fragments, and traces of paint—are now displayed sandwiched between sheets of glass, reminiscent of scientific specimens. They serve as a record or archive of the artist’s past creative efforts, forming a kind of ‘natural history’ of his artistic journey.
The artist has named this approach Endgame, which now informs all future work. He intends to use only materials already available in the studio, repurposing and recycling without consuming new resources. After more than 30 years of art-making, Butcher has accumulated a significant amount to draw from. This practice mirrors society’s reflection on past consumerism—a mea culpa for the excesses of unrestrained consumption—and gestures toward a future shaped by aesthetic austerity. The artist aims to stretch his current materials as far as possible, embracing frugality, with the commitment that once these resources are exhausted, he will stop making art.
Eric Butcher has exhibited extensively in the UK and internationally with shows in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Australia and the USA. Furthermore, Butcher’s installations have been commissioned by private collectors and corporate collections worldwide.
Exhibitions at the gallery:
Sweet Heresy, 2020, (solo show)
Data Capture, 2015 (solo show)
Down to Zero, 2014 (group show with Prunella Clough, David Connearn, Simón Granell, Andrea Gregson, Alex Hamilton, Brifget Riley, Michael Roberts, Dieter Roth and Piers Wardle)
Selected work
T/R. 1000
Recycled Paint Fragments: Graphite, Acrylic + Acrylic Gel on Glass
44 x 55cm
2022
T/R. 977
Recycled Paint Fragments: Acrylic + Acrylic Gel on Glass
55 x 44cm
2024
Eric Butcher
T/R. 1024
Recycled Paint Fragments: Acrylic + Acrylic Gel on Glass
109 x 86 cm (inc. frame)
2022
Contact for price
Eric Butcher
T/R. 1008
Recycled Paint Fragments: Acrylic, Graphite + Acrylic Gel on Glass
109 x 86 cm (inc. Frame)
2022
Contact for price