Paul Brotherton

Selected Reviews

'Degrees of Abstraction':- "Fusing together an appreciation for crisp graphic elements with emotional freedom, Paul Brotherton has created a style he calls Abstract Expressionist Design, which draws on influences from Pop Art, 20th Century British abstract artists and the emergence of graphic design in popular culture. Brotherton's highly disciplined and aesthetically inspired investigative process layers the explosive, textural marks of a palette knife over thin, liquid drips and linear grid work. Frequently returning to a vibrant mix of bright orange, crimson, aqua blues and white, Brotherton applies the clear, unblended hues of his acrylic paints to the canvass in decisive movements, striking the surface directly with a sense of immediacy"

Agora Gallery Collective Exhibition (July 31 - August 21, 2012) printed Catalogue / Agora Gallery website / press release; Agora Gallery, 530 West 25th Street, Chelsea, New York, USA

"Paul Brotherton: A Retrospective; An exhibition of work from this Cheshire-based artist, best known for his boundary-pushing methods of painting and his wide-ranging exploration of artistic movements, including abstract expressionism"

Review of 'Paul Brotherton: A Retrospective' (mid-career) solo exhibition at the Portico Library and Gallery, Manchester, UK (4th October 2013) Art Picks (Arts Citylife), Manchester Evening News

"Vibrant and expressive, his work traverses boundaries between figurative, abstract and semi-abstract..."

Review of solo exhibition 'From the City to the Sea': Arc Gallery, Stockport; "Different Strokes" (8th July 2010) Stockport Times

"Although he sometimes works from his imagination, Paul generally uses his own 'on-site sketches and photographs to create drawings back in the studio which he develops into paintings. His work is bold and painterly, but often this freedom of expression is juxtaposed with structure and uniformity."

Assistant Arts Development Officer, Vale Royal District Council, Cheshire (May 2008) press release; major solo exhibition 'Chaos & Calm: A Fusion'; Castle Park Arts Centre (Galleries 1 & 3), Cheshire, UK

"Paul's work is a far cry from the grey industrial cityscapes that characterise so many depictions of Manchester, bringing colour and vibrancy to familiar city scenes..."

On-line Review; Manchester Confidential (August 2006) 'Paul Brotherton at stroon'

"The former graphic designer gets a buzz from depicting the characters on the streets - the girls shopping in the rain, the queues outside the night clubs and the families making their way through the squares"

Main arts review of 'Our Manchester' at the Blyth Gallery "go...to the arts", Manchester Evening News (2nd August 2002)

"Paul captures the spontaneity of café life and depicts the famous landmarks of Manchester"

'What's On', Cheshire Life magazine (May 2001)

"..... Brotherton was born with a strong drive to be an artist …….. he is a long term lover of Manchester and has observed the way that artists have traditionally depicted the city as a rainy place packed with impressive Victorian buildings but not much colour. His aim is to show the explosion of colour that has come with post-bomb redevelopment."

Main arts review of Paul Brotherton's solo exhibition 'Life - Tamed and Untamed' at the Blyth Gallery "go...to the arts", Manchester Evening News (4th May 2001)