George Shaw United Kingdom, b. 1966

George Shaw was born in 1966 in Coventry, UK. 

He obtained his Bachelor of Fine Art at the Sheffield Polytechnic in 1989, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 1992. Six years later, he successfully graduated with a Masters degree in Painting at the Royal College of Art, London.

George Shaw paints the outskirts and woods he grew up in with passion and fastidious realism. His paintings seemingly freeze a dramatic moment in time – whether it has just passed, is about to happen, or is happening right now. Any human presence is only declared by some litter, a tramping of leaves, or a row of garage units worn down by time. His paintings of the village Tile Hill are so accurate that they can be recognised via Google Earth.

Just as remarkable is George Shaw's favoured medium, Humbrol enamel paints. Normally used to paint model trains and aeroplanes, the thin liquid is very difficult to manipulate but gives his paintings an almost photographic appearance. As enamel has no historic associations, using it as paint distances George Shaw from being a mere landscape painter, while simultaneously joining and modernising a great tradition.

George Shaw's work is part of several major collections, including Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham; British Council, National Museum of Wales, Cincinnati Art Mu­seum, Ohio, Olbricht Collection, Essen, and the Tate Collection, London. In 2016, George Shaw finished his two year residency at theNational Gallery, London, with his acclaimed exhibition My Back To Nature.

George Shaw lives and works in Devon, UK.