Stephen Newton (b. 1948)
The art critic Mel Gooding described Newton’s painting as a ‘psycho-conceptual project’. They explore primitive manic states; isolation; disassociation; loss; fear; loneliness and supplication, themes containing sinister elements common to us all.
Through years of contemplation and engagement with painting and drawing, Newton has distilled that fusion between the physical and intellectual in the creative process – the essence being a reduction to primitive, almost primeval, images of immense power.
Newton was born in Lincolnshire in 1948. He gained an M.A. in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University in 1986, an M.A. in Art and Psychotherapy from the University of Sheffield in 1993 and a PhD in the psychoanalysis of the creative process, Department Of Psychiatry, University of Sheffield in 1998. In 1998 Newton was appointed Visiting Lecturer, School of Art, University of Sunderland and Visiting Professor, University of Northumbria at Newcastle. In 1999 he was appointed Visiting lecturer, Centre for Psychoanalytical Studies, University of Essex and in 2010 Visiting Lecturer, University of Lincoln.
Through an examination of psychoanalysis and psychometry of art, Newton has evolved a series of paintings related to primitive manic states; isolation; disassociation; loss; fear; loneliness and supplication. Art critic Mel Gooding described Newton’s paintings as a “psycho- conceptual project”. His work has been exhibited across the UK in exhibitions which include: Stephen Newton: Paintings of Remembrance, Bermondsey Project Space, London (2021), Stephen Newton: Abstract Realisms, Bermondsey Project Space, London (2016), Stephen Newton: Retrospective, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby (2015), Etchings 1997-2000, Jesmond Dene House, Newcastle (2005), Etchings and Paintings 1997-2000, Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee (2001), Stephen Newton: Solo Show, Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston University, London (1998), Contemporary British Painting, Huddersfield Art Gallery (2014), @paintbritain, Ipswich Art Gallery and Museum (2014) and Images of Working Class Life, Viking Gallery, Jarrow (1998). A number of art museums have acquired work by Newton, including Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Madison Museum of Fine Art, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum and Swindon Art Gallery
Newton has written three books, including; Painting, Psychoanalysis, and Spirituality published by Cambridge University Press (2001) and Art & Ritual: A Painter's Journey published by Ziggurat Books International (2008). A fourth book, The Hidden Essence of Art, is due to be published in 2023 by Morel Books.