“All art must be motivated by feeling, otherwise why did you begin in the first place”
British artist Steve Goddard creates paintings, portraits and sculpture that shifts fluidly between abstraction and representation, focusing on the human condition as filtered by his own subjective take on the world. Weaving together multiple narratives, much of his work addresses themes of death, war and nostalgia: bringing together spliced sections of art history and reinterpreting them through the filter of his own life experiences.
Goddard began his artistic journey in his late teens as an illustrator and graphic designer, adhering to precision and functionality, despite his ongoing ambition to be a person that primarily draws and paints. In 1980, when deciding to become a freelance graphic designer, he decided to allow time to develop his drawing and painting. The importance of drawing and his natural affinity to line remains central to his work. His diverse oeuvre now encompasses painting, drawing as well as large-scale sculpture. Having developed his practice in his transition to artist, he proceeded to submit his work to competitions and from 1986-1992, Goddard’s works were selected by the Royal Academy of Arts, London, Royal Portrait Society and the National Portrait Gallery, to name a few, opening up his work to critical judgement and collectors.
Goddard would go on to win accolades and prizes such as being selected to show alongside David Hockney in a US exhibition in 1994, following his success in the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in 1987 with the painting The Nan Head. This work would eventually lead to a series of paintings, one of which he would produce as a commission for the cover of Welsh rock band Stereophonics eighth studio album in 2013.Since the beginning of his career, Goddard has attracted collectors from Ridley Scott to the Royal Family.
BORN 1959, FULHAM, LONDON
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016 / Sonnenblumen, Anima Mundi, London
2014 / 3 Skulls, Galerie Sardac, Lectoure, France
2013 / The Golden Bough, Vigo Gallery, London
2012 / Winter, Galerie Sardac, Lectoure, France
Two Poles: Works on paper, Fine Art Society, London
2011 / One God to Many Devils, Fine Art Society, London
2010 / Solo Projects, Volta, New York
2009 / Only Headhunting, Fine Art Society, London
2007 / How to Read a Face, Fine Art Society, London
2005 / Watchers, Fine Art Society Contemporary, London
London Art Fair, London
2004 / Art London, London
2013 / Ivan Klapez & Steve Goddard, Galerie Sardac, Lectoure, France
2012 / London Twelve, City Gallery, Prague
Memory: Contemporary International Sculpture, PAN Museum, Naples
The British Cut, Fine Art Society, London and The Cat Street Gallery, The Space, Hong Kong
2011 / Memory: Contemporary International Sculpture, Rosenfeld Porcini, London
i, Pertwee Anderson & Gold, London
London Art Fair, London
2009 / Scope, Miami
Encomium, Fine Art Society, London
2006 / London Art Fair, London
2004 / National Portrait Exhibition, London
2000 / Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1999 / William Beadleston Gallery, New York
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1998 / William Beadleston Gallery, New York
Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, New York
New English Art Club, London
1997 / Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1996 / Eleanor Ettinger Gallery, New York
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1995 / Art Asia, Hong Kong
Royal Portrait Society, London
Art Chicago, Chicago
1994 / Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Art Asia, Hong Kong
1993 / Royal Institute of Water Colour Artists, London
National Portrait Exhibition, London
1992 / New English Art Club, London
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1990 / An English Exhibit (a joint exhibition with David Hockney and Roger De Grey), Maralyn Wilson Gallery, Alabama
National Portrait Exhibition, London
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
SELECTED AWARDS
2003 / First Prize Singer & Friedlander - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
1998 / Second Prize Singer & Friedlander - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
1997 / Second Prize Singer & Friedlander - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
1996 / Royal Academy Prize Winner
1995 / First Prize Singer & Friedlander - Sunday Times Watercolour Competition
1992 / Prize Winner Royal Water Colour Society
1991 / Special Prize Winner Royal Society of British Artist
1988 / Prize Winner Royal Overseas League
1987 / Prize Winner Royal Society of Pastel Artists
Works in public and private collections worldwide.
This CV was last updated in September 2021.
It is made available for research and not for publication.