Gail Brodholt
Gail Brodholt is a leading contemporary painter and linocut printmaker, creating works with strong, vivid colours and bold structure. The London transport network is a key feature in the subject matter of her work, capturing a moment in time as commuters make their journeys through stations and the tube. She also depicts urban landscapes at varying times of day, with dramatic sunsets falling over buildings of the urban landscape. She uses both printmaking and painting techniques, and sometimes a combination of the two, as she has found that one of these practices can inform and enhance the other. However, she states that sometimes an idea will present itself as a more suitable subject for one or the other.
Printmaking Style
Gail Brodholt’s signature style can be described as strong layers of colour with a defined structure. Her images often display a moment caught in time as people journey through the city. Gail Brodholt is inspired and interested in the day to day lives of ordinary people and the unnoticed places that they pass through as they are going about their daily lives. This could be entrances to tube stations, going up the underground escalators or waiting at the platform to board a train. Her work reflect s the lives of anonymous people within the urban landscape.
Background & Influences
Gail Brodholt was born in South London and graduated from Kingston Upon Thames University with a BA in Fine Art with a specialisation in painting. This led her to discover printmaking techniques and evolve her love of strong colour to a different media. She is influenced by Edward Bawden, Claire Leighton and Edward Hopper, all of which use strong lighting and depict day to day happenings.
In the Gallery
Gail Brodholt’s vivid depictions of the London underground; its tube trains and tunnels are favourites at For Art Sake’s Ealing printmaker’s gallery. Depicting the city at different times of year. Gail’s favourites are the works that she has done of places which are no longer there anymore, one of which is the south side of London Bridge Station. She currently works in a shared studio in Woolwich, right by the Thames Barrier, with another printmaker, Louise Davies.