Lincoln Townley

LINCOLN TOWNLEY (England, 1972).
Untitled.
Mixed media on canvas.
Signed with initials in the lower right corner.
Measurements: 150 x 100 cm.

In Lincoln Townley's pictorial universe, marked by his exploration of the human psyche, fame and obsession, this work is inscribed within his expressionist and abstract language, while drawing from the sources of outsider art. The composition is dominated by a central stain in blood red whose ambiguous form could evoke a human bust emerging from the material chaos. Townley employs a dense painterly texture, where pigments seem to be dragged furiously, leaving trails of movement and restrained energy. Around this central figure, a series of arrows or vectors radiate in various directions, as if channeling an overflowing inner force. This dynamism suggests an intense drive: the energy emanating from the individual, which can be both positive and negative, resonating with Townley's recurring themes of inner struggle, desire and self-destruction in the world of power and celebrity. The colors, telluric and sanguine, reinforce this sense of psychological intensity, as if the sitter's own identity is constantly expanding or imploding. The work, in its essence, becomes an abstract psychological portrait, where the character's energy is not only captured, but seems to tear at the canvas itself, in a play between matter and emptiness, presence and dissolution.

Lincoln Townley is a self-taught English painter who explores the darker side of the human personality, painting abstract portraits of celebrities. In recent years, Townley has gained significant recognition in the contemporary art world, establishing himself as one of the most interesting talents. In the last decade, Townley's paintings have appreciated considerably, reflecting both his growing reputation and the demand for his work. Townley resides between Cheshire and London. Before turning to art as a career at the age of 40, Townley was a publicist and public relations manager. From 2015 to 2017, Townley was artist-in-residence at the Marriott Canary Wharf. Townley's work has been exhibited in the Sir Hugh Casson Room at The Royal Academy of Arts in 2015 and 2016. Mastercard has commissioned him to paint the world's greatest icons and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in Los Angeles commissioned him to paint celebrities in 2016 and 2017. His painting of boxer Muhammad Ali sold for $623,000 in 2017. Townley married actress Denise Welch in 2013. Exhibitions: 2025 Singapore, solo. 2024 Venice Biennale - Banker Collection. 2022 Venice Biennale - Banker Collection. Art Miami (shown with Long-Sharp Gallery, USA). Sotheby's London. Sotheby's New York. Saatchi Gallery, London - Energy Collection 2021 Saatchi Gallery, London - Universe Collection. 2019 Venice Biennale - Banker Collection (Behind The Mask). Saatchi Gallery, London - Greed Collection 2017 Powerhouse, Brisbane - Surprise Collection. Saatchi Gallery, London - Retrospective. 2015 Royal Academy, London - W1 Collection. Freud Museum, London - Furies Collection. 2014 National Gallery, London - Disappearing Soho Collection. At the 2022 Venice Biennale, Lincoln Townley presented "The Banker Collection", where, as can be read in the artist's catalog, he made "fictional representations, head-and-shoulders portraits showing businessmen in suits with viscerally painted faces emerging from abyssal backgrounds and emerging directly into our own space. They are an evocative depiction of the greed of the world's financial institutions and the "money men" behind them." Like Francis Bacon's radical distortions of the human figure, Townley's figures highlight the existential confusion of our 21st century.