British figurative painter, Michael Alford (Born 1958) was born in Cookham, England. Alford attended the Dragon School and Rugby School before he joined Durham University where he took a degree in Arabic and Spanish. He’s mostly self-taught artist, but before beginning his career as a fine arts painter and muralist, he studied art at the Slade and the Chelsea School of Art. His work includes nudes, portraits, figures, and landscapes and cityscapes. Early in his career, Alford had a show at the Duncan Campbell Gallery in Mayfair annually. He also worked as a muralist and he lived in Spain for a long period of time where the cost of living was reasonable. In 2010, Alford served the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards as their official War Artist during their tour of Helmand, Afghanistan. Just recently, he has completed a commission for the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment, and painted cityscapes, nudes, and a portrait of Vaughan Smith.
For him, painting is recapturing the experience of seeing, without being too literal-minded about what that experience means or what it is. His works always start with direct observation of the visible world. He often goes out looking for subjects and return to the studio with drawings or sketches. His work can be broad and sweeping, as in cityscapes or landscapes, or very intimate and close, as in interiors, nudes or figures. These he uses as a starting point for a process that turns impressions, raw observation, into something evocative and more abstract. Alford has exhibited in many galleries including the RFA Gallery San Francisco, Chelsea Art Society Summer Exhibition, SF MOMA-Fort Mason San Francisco, El Pont Gallery Barcelona Spain, El Quatre Gallery Barcelona Spain, among others.
