Biography

Mark Pearson was born in London in 1956. His training started at the City & Guilds of London Art Schools, London, where he obtained a First Class Diploma. Mark then went on to take a three year Post Graduate Diploma at the Royal Academy Schools, where he was taught by renowned painters such as Sir Rodger De Grey, Peter Greenham, Sir Hugh Casson & Ruskin Spear. At the Royal Academy he was awarded college and national prizes, along with travelling scholarships to Barcelona and Madrid. After graduating Mark he lived in New York for several years, returning to London in the mid 1980s.

Mark’s work is in a line of traditional figurative painting and many painters throughout the history of art including Caravaggio, Goya, Turner, Degas, Sickert and Hopper have influenced him. His paintings and drawings are characterised by compositions where the human figure is present; the key elements in his pictures are light, space and movement. He works in a variety of different mediums including oils, acrylic, watercolours, chalk, pen & ink.

Although his painting is rooted in the tradition of figurative painting, his work is none the less contemporary, as people interacting with each other in public places (for example bars, festivals, beaches, parks and other open spaces) form the basis of his inspiration. Over the past decade or so Mark has been concentrating on his urban landscape work. Focusing on where he lives in South London, documenting life in Peckham, portraying the people, places and the changes brought about by gentrification.

Mark has painted professionally for over thirty years, selling his work to a growing number of private and corporate patrons and collectors in the UK, USA, Australia, Europe, Japan and Morocco. He has exhibited continually in solo and mixed exhibitions throughout his professional career and has undertaken various commissions, including original artwork for the Orange BAFTA film awards in 2002 and 2008. Since 2010 Mark has worked with McKay Williamson a family media company, producing innovative family portraits.