Eric Butcher's solo exhibition at GPS Gallery entitled Shadow Archive will run from 30 September - 18 October 2025.
After 25 years devoted to the patient and incremental development of a practice of reductive, self-referential process-based painting, Butcher’s work changed dramatically in 2020. “Confronted by the devastating impact of human behaviour on the planet, my former studio practice began to seem deeply problematic and self-indulgent. What was it that my work consisted of but taking precious resources and turning them into useless objects?”
"Shadow Archive, my first solo show in London for several years, will be the first opportunity to see an extensive range of works from my controversial Endgame series, which followed a process of investigation into the parameters of my own practice, and an attempt at its systematic deconstruction. I pulled my previous works apart, both intellectually and physically, peeling the skins of paint from their supports and categorising them according to a basic taxonomy. The resulting skins, fragments and traces of paint are presented sandwiched between sheets of glass like specimens. They provide a record or index of past artistic endeavours, a ‘natural history’ of my creative self. Endgame is the modus operandi of all my current and future creative work. Henceforth, I will use only those materials already available in the studio; using up, repurposing and recycling what I already have without consuming more. When I have run out of materials I will simply stop making art."
You can find out more about the exhibition here. Congratulations Eric!
GPS Gallery: 36 Great Pulteney Street, London W1F 9NS
Exhibition Opening Hours: 30 Sept – 18 Oct 2025
11:00 am – 8:00 pm
Photography © Peter Abrahams, @peterabrahams8