Steve Burden
Growing up in an urban jungle, surrounded by out-of-scale concrete fortresses, has inevitably informed my development and visual aesthetic as an artist. Inspired by my own experiences growing up on the Pepys Estate in Deptford, south London, my paintings investigate dystopian themes and ideas associated with British housing estates. I’m interested in exploring the social issues that arose from the creation of this estate – security, isolation, control and gang culture – as well as its design and architecture, and the history of the site.
Pepys Estate’s past, as well as my own experiences, has fed into my paintings. From medieval times the site of the estate was an important dockland development with several wharves, a large cattle market and associated abattoir. My painting Abattoir began with a 1913 photograph taken in the abattoir and obtained from the Pepys Archive in nearby Lewisham Library. I wanted to reconnect with these long-gone figures in black and white, and examine their personas – one of the reasons I chose to place myself in the painting – to understand better the gangs of men that once worked there, while introducing the street-gang members that the estate had become known for in later years.
In terms of construction, layering has become an important aspect of my work, both in the building up of layer upon layer and erasure, and also as a means to build multiple readings and a more complex narrative into the paintings. My process can involve dissolving a day’s painting so that the surface becomes like a palimpsest of time, and I also paint over areas, obliterating them and taking them back to the background colour. The issues of population growth and associated density are ones that continue to increase and cause tension, with no sign of a slow-down or solution. The ‘sink estates’ are gradually being demolished, an expensive failed experiment. But what is going to replace them?
EXPERIENCE:
2015 – PRESENT: ARTIST www.steveburden.co.uk
2007 – 2015: DESIGNER
QUALIFICATIONS:
MA FINE ART (DISTINCTION), BATH SPA UNIVERSITY
MA TYPO/GRAPHICS , UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS LONDON
BA HONS (FIRST CLASS) DESIGN, GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
DIPLOMA ART & DESIGN, RAVENSBOURNE COLLEGE
DIPLOMA CLASSICAL HISTORY, OPEN UNIVERSITY
YACHTMASTER, ROYAL YACHTING ASSOCIATION
RESCUE DIVER, PADI AUSTRALIA
TALKS & WORKSHOPS:
2025 - EASTQUAY, WATCHET
2024 - APT, LONDON
2022 - NO FORMAT GALLERY, LONDON
2022 - GORDONS SCHOOL, WOKING
2021 - GORDONS SCHOOL, WOKING
2021 - SIR JOHN TALBOTS SCHOOL, SHROPSHIRE
2021 - LEIGH ACADEMY, GREENWICH, LONDON
2021 - ST MAGDALENE SCHOOL, GREENWICH, LONDON
2021 - THOMAS TALLIS SCHOOL, GREENWICH, LONDON
2021 - WORKING CLASS BRITISH ART NETWORK
2020 - BRICKS BRISTOL
2019 - ZABLUDOWICZ COLLECTION
2017 - BLACK SWAN ARTS, FROME
2017 - BRUTON ART FACTORY, BRUTON
2017 - BATH ARTIST STUDIOS, BATH
2017 - THE BLUE SCHOOL, WELLS
SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
2025 - MORPHEUS, RCA, LONDON
2024 - COUNTRY ESTATE / COUNCIL ESTATE, APT GALLERY, LONDON
2022 - BOTTOM OF THE CLASS, NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON
2018 - MADE FROM DEPTFORD, NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON
2017 - PIGS AT PEPYS, LANE HOUSE ARTS, BATH
2017 - UTOPIAN MYTHS, BLACK SWAN ARTS, FROM
2017 - PEPYS, ROPER GALLERY, BATH
2015 - PIGS MIGHT FLY, OLD STREET TUBE STATION, LONDON
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2026 - FORM & FLESH, ANDELLI ART, SOMERSET
2026 - FAB, BATH
2026 - ODYSSEY, HASTINGS CONTEMPORARY, HASTINGS
2024 - MOONS, No.6, BRUTON, SOMERSET
2023 - PULSE, TREMENHEERE GALLERY, PENZANCE, CORNWALL
2023 - BOUNDARY CONDITIONS, GARETH GARDNER GALLERY, LONDON
2023 - BEHIND THE SCENES, TAUNTON BREWHOUSE, SOMERSET
2022- MUCH ADO, JUPITER MUSEUM, NEWLYN, CORNWALL
2022- ANOTHER SPACE WITHIN, GLENSIDE MUSEUM, BRISTOL
2022- SUMMER SHOW, EASTSIDE PROJECTS, BIRMINGHAM
2021- A SENSE OF PLACE, LANE HOUSE ARTS, HASTINGS
2021- UNREAL ESTATES, BRISTOL
2021- NO FORMAT GALLERY, LONDON
2020 - ING DISCERNING EYE, LONDON
2020 - PRESS PLAY, KOSAR CONTEMPORARY, BRISTOL
2020 - WILTSHIRE CREATIVE, SALISBURY ARTS CENTRE
2020 - 2020, CENTRESPACE GALLERY, BRISTOL
2019 - CREEKSIDE OPEN, CURATED BY SACHA CRADDOCK, APT GALLERY, LONDON
2019 - POP UP, LANE HOUSE ARTS, WILTSHIRE
2019 - PORTRAIT OF AN EGG, CURATED BY GAVIN TURK, SOMERSET HOUSE, LONDON
2019 - FIGURES & FACES, ANDELLI ART, WELLS, UK
2019 - NEXT GENERATION, ALON ZAKAIM FINE ART, LONDON
2019 - RECONSTRUCTING THE REALITY, PEYER FINE ART, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND
2018 - COME AS YOU ARE, DADIANI FINE ART, LONDON
2018 - DRAWING OPEN, NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON
2018 - HEART MIRROR, ART PLU, WUXI, CHINA
2018 - RECONSTRUCTING THE REALITY, D10, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2018 - ART CAPITAL, HANGSHENG CAPITAL, HANGZHOU, CHINA
2018 - ARTPLU, MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, SHANGHAI, CHINA
2018 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, POOLE MUSEUM, UK
2018 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, THE WILSON, CHELTENHAM, UK
2017 - PAINTING OPEN, NO FORMAT GALLERY, DEPTFORD, LONDON
2017 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, FALMOUTH ART GALLERY, UK
2017 - ART SHENZEN, SHENZEN CITY, CHINA
2017 - MONARCHS TO MONGRELS, THE SHEPPEY, GODNEY, UK
2017 - WILD IN THE COUNTRY, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2017 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS, BRISTOL MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY, UK
2017 - FRINGE ARTS, BATH, UK
2017 - GAVIN TURK AND FRIENDS, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
2017 - WAY OUT WEST, BRUTON ART FACTORY, UK
AWARDS:
2025 - EAST QUAY, WATCHET, RESIDENCY
2025 - ELEPHANT TRUST
2024 - WEST ENGLAND MUSIC & ARTS - CREATIVE GRANT
2023 - DYCP, ARTS COUNCIL ENGLAND
2022 - THE QUEENS AWARD FOR VOLUNTARY SERVICE
2022 - OPPENHEIM-JOHN DOWNES TRUST AWARD
2021 - STEP UP, OUTSIDE IN
2021 - THE EXCHANGE, EASTSIDE PROJECTS
2020 - JOHN MOORES PRIZE - SHORTLISTED
2020 - ASSOCIATE ARTIST OF BRICKS IN BRISTOL, UK
2020 - FREELANDS FOUNDATION EMERGENCY FUND
2019 - CREEKSIDE OPEN
2019 - SPIKE ISLAND SCHOLARSHIP
2019 - ZABLUDOWICZ COLLECTION - MASTERCLASS AWARD
2019 - TURPS BANANA SURGERY
2019 - AMBASSADOR - OUTSIDE IN
2018 - BLACK SWAN ARTS - JUDGE
2018 - JOHN MOORES PRIZE - SHORTLISTED
2017 - TRUSTEE BATH ARTISTS STUDIOS
2017 - AESTHETICA ART PRIZE - LONGLISTED
2017 - A-N BURSARY
2017 - ALTERNATIVE VISIONS - FINALIST
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