Alex McIntyre
Alex McIntyre's paintings respond to the natural world and sit somewhere between poetry, representation, and abstraction. She is UK based.
Message
Working as a professional artist since 2007, she currently paints using a process of carving, layering and relief, typically in acrylics on panel. The paintings are an invitation to the viewer to shift into an embodied state of being and seeing. They hold a poetic space inspired by awe and wonder, speaking of light, sky, journeys, the touch of weather or the smell of different seasons and may remind you of places you have known, or would like to know.
Alex has exhibited in the UK, United States and Romania and is a selected member of artist groups Free Painters and Sculptors and ArtCan. With work in commercial and private collections internationally, she has shown widely in art fairs: self-representing at 16 editions of The Other Art Fair in London and New York, and represented at The Affordable Art Fair and Fresh Art Fair. She has shown with The Graham Hunter Gallery, Byard Art, Kendall’s Fine Art, Bils and Rye Gallery, The Biscuit Factory, Artichoke Gallery, Mylo Fine Art, the Stone Space, Quercus Gallery, Irving Contemporary, Art5 Gallery, Kingfisher Art, Rise Art, Wychwood Art, Images in Frames, and Saatchi Online.
Alex was invited and selected to be exhibited in Beyond Other Horizons, at Iasi Palace of Culture, Romania 2020, a British Council / Romanian Cultural institute / UNAGE show. In 2025, the exhibition was reimagined as Atemkristall at Imperial College London. Alex spoke on a panel as part of the corresponding conference at The Romanian Cultural Institute, London. This project is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute, the British Council Romania, the Warburg Institute, Leeds University, UCL London, and National University of the Arts ‘George Enescu’ Iasi, Romania. It will tour to the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York and Berlin.
Statement
I am interested in the physical, almost sculptural, presence of a painting. Although the paintings are not specific places, and resist realistic representation, they are inspired by sky, weather, light and by physically moving through or within a landscape. I work the surface of the painting by carving into it, building up paint, patina and texture through staining, sanding and layering different acrylic media. The resulting artworks are intuitive, sitting somewhere between poetry, representation and abstraction. They are an invitation to the viewer to be present, look up, breathe and be - in this living moment.