ABOUT ME
I am a UK based artist and freelance illustrator, trained in Illustration at Norwich University of the Arts. Following recent trips to California, a focus for me has been the iconography of the American West, and the idea of ‘the road’ as a symbolic landscape, dotted with roadside icons- gas stations, motels, neon oddities. I often use the interior of a car as a frame through which to view a passing landscape and try to capture a sense of movement through my composition and use of colour and lighting, including areas of blur and distortion. There is a foundation of realism within my work, however I am most interested in creating an image which seems like a moment in time.
Cinematic approaches to composition inform my process of creating new paintings. My immediate responses to ideas, inspired by film storyboarding, are drawn quickly to explore composition and lighting options. From this starting point, I develop my compositions which I then translate to painting. I am particularly drawn by stark lighting traditionally used in Film Noir, and more contemporary takes on this genre like the neon chaos of Ridley Scott’s Neo-Noir Blade Runner. Thematically, I am also inspired by films including Easy Rider, Thelma and Louise and Kalifornia; examples of narratives which also question the allure of the road and where it may lead.
My interest in cinema has recently led to a body of work focused on the neon-lit facades of Los Angeles movie theatres. So far, this collection includes the Cinerama Dome, the Aero, the Nuart Theatre and the New Beverly Cinema.
EXHIBITIONS
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries London, November 2022
Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries London, September 2022
Holt Festival Art Prize Exhibition July 2022
‘Hyperrealism in America and Japan: Horace Panter and Imogen Hawgood’, According To McGee, York- March 12th-25th 2022
"But Once A Year" Holiday Art Market, Vestige Concept Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA- December 2021
A Spot on the Wall, The Station Gallery, December 4th- January 26th
Art in the Fast Lane, Vestige Concept Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA, USA- September 2021
Holt Festival Art Prize Exhibition July 2021
Broadway Arts Festival, June 2021 at Theatrebarn, Bretforton
The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, 19th November- 31st December 2020- View here
Curator’s Choice: An Exhibition of Northern Art, New Light Prize Exhibition- Scarborough Art Gallery, 19th September 2020- 17th January 2021
Holt Festival Art Prize Exhibition Sept-Oct 2020
Norwich University of the Arts Online Graduate Showcase, 2020
AWARDS
ING Discerning Eye 2022- Shortlisted
Sir John Hurt Art Prize 2022- Shortlisted
Sir John Hurt Art Prize 2021- Shortlisted
Sworders Emerging Artist Prize 2021- Shortlisted
Broadway Arts Festival 2021- Highly Commended, watercolour category
ING Discerning Eye 2020- Shortlisted
Norwich University of the Arts Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation 2020
Sir John Hurt Art Prize 2020- Shortlisted
Sworders Art Prize 2020- Shortlisted
PRESS / FEATURES
Creative Boom, Come and bask in the comforting glow of Imogen Hawgood's festival paintings, April 2024 (read here)
Everyman Magazine, November-December 2022 (view online here)
Dream Catcher magazine, Issue 45- Summer 2022
Creative Boom, Paintings by Imogen Hawgood consider the darker side of American road trips (read here)
Charles Hutch Press, Imogen Hawgood makes According To McGee debut alongside Pop artist Horace Panter in hyperrealism double delight- 10th March 2022 (read here)
According To McGee Blog, HORACE PANTER AND IMOGEN HAWGOOD: 'HYPERREALISM IN AMERICA AND JAPAN- March 2022 (read here)
BBC Radio Norfolk, The Social- August 2021
Norwich University of the Arts, Guest Lecture- November 2020
Storehouse Magazine, Issues 18, 19, 20 and 21 (print and online here)
Innocent Bystander (blog), Last Night in Times Square, post about the painting process of ‘Goldfinger Times Square’ commission, November 2021 (read here)