Shaqúelle Whyte
Present Tense
27 January – 28 April 2024
Somerset
About the Artist
In his paintings, Shaqúelle Whyte presents imagined spaces imbued with a sense of ambiguity that interrogate the human condition, all the while exploring the material qualities of the medium. Loosely rendered, energetic brushwork and an expansive approach to composition are hallmarks of the artist’s practice.
Although non-linear, narrative plays a central role in Whyte’s work, which sees him carry certain motifs over from one painting to the next. These recurring details contribute to the sense of theater that pervades his work; Whyte directs his subjects as though they are actors and his canvas a stage. Despite excluding himself from the work representationally, the stories he crafts reflect his everyday life and innermost thoughts.
The figures in Whyte’s paintings act as conduits for his subconscious. Giving form to thought through paint, he generates a sense of introspection through his characters’ often averted or guarded faces. At once enigmatic and familiar, Whyte’s paintings evoke the surreal and shape the ephemeral, ultimately leaving his world open to the viewer’s own interpretation.
Selected group exhibitions include: ‘Buffer,’ Guts Gallery, London, UK (2022); ‘Seasons in the City,’ curated by Artuner, Palazzo Capris, Turin, Italy (2022); ‘Showstopper,’ Saatchi Gallery, London (2022); and ‘WHAT NOW?,’ PM/AM Gallery, London, UK (2022). In April 2024, he will have his first solo exhibition at Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London, UK.
Whyte lives and works in London. He received a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Slade School of Fine Art, University College London in 2022, and an MFA from the Royal College of Art, London, UK in 2023.
