Andrew Litten, a distinctive voice in British contemporary art, brings a new exhibition — Unknown Futures: Hope, Longing, Grief, and Other Distortions — to Anima Mundi, in St Ives, this Friday.
Andrew Litten. Photograph: Chris Frazer Smith
Born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1970, Litten found the rigid structures of art college too restrictive as a teenager, and left to walk a self-taught path.
For the following decade, he dedicated himself to creating small-scale works crafted from humble domestic and found materials, such as envelopes and assembled furniture parts. This formative period was a deliberate challenge to the concepts of art elitism and the commodity of the art object, establishing a raw, subversive philosophy that continues to underpin his practice.
A pivotal shift occurred in 2001 when Litten moved to Cornwall and began to exhibit his work publicly. He achieved rapid critical success when his paintings were included in the Nudes exhibition in New York city, alongside masters such as Jacob Epstein and Pierre Auguste Renoir. His contribution was singled out for review by the New York Times.
This was followed by four consecutive solo exhibitions at Goldfish Fine Arts, in Penzance, each accompanied by a dedicated publication. His reputation for bold ‘anti-art statements was further solidified during Frieze Art Week 2007 at London’s Vyner Street, where he exhibited the emphatic work Dog Breeder as part of the Move exhibition.
Litten’s presence in major institutions grew throughout the following decade, notably with his inclusion in No Soul For Sale at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in 2010. By 2012, he was holding major solo exhibitions at Millennium in St Ives and L13 Light Industrial Workshop in London, as well as large-scale shows at Spike Island and Motorcade FlashParade in Bristol.
His reach has since become global. His work has been featured in exhibitions from Berlin and Siena to Canberra and New York, including the 54th Venice Biennale. Furthermore, his paintings have been exhibited in the National Museum of Poland and across four major museums in China. Most recently, his work was showcased in the 2024 Radical Expression exhibition in Belgium, alongside Frank Auerbach and George Grosz.
In recent years, Litten has balanced his studio practice in Fowey with a deep commitment to public outreach and education. With support from the Arts Council UK, he conceived the 2018 exhibition Ordinary Bodies, Ordinary Bones at Anima Mundi. His advocacy for mental health is a cornerstone of his recent work, including a life-size bronze created for the Samaritans charity at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2023, as well as collaborations with Cornwall Mind and an NHS suicide bereavement project at Tate St Ives.
Today, he remains a vital figure in the arts community as a member of the Contemporary British Painting Group and a frequent educator at the Newlyn School of Art and Plymouth Art College University. His work is held in numerous private and public collections worldwide, and he is represented by Anima Mundi.
The show runs until 15th May.
