Robert Priseman - Gas Chambers

Born in Derbyshire, England, Robert Priseman studied photography and graphic design before reading Aesthetics and Art Theory at the University of Essex. Whilst working as a book designer, Priseman developed a successful career painting commissioned portraits in oils. However, in 2003, Priseman gave up commission work, turning to depictions of unpopulated landscapes, and increasingly, interior spaces. Priseman’s work in this vein culminated in the bleakly matter-of-fact Modern Means of Execution etchings and American Execution paintings of 2007-08, which John Finlay describes as ‘chilling reminder[s] of our... indifference to death and cruelty.’[1] In his most recent drawings and paintings, Priseman extends this theme to embrace the sites of some of the grimmest atrocities perpetrated in recent history – the Death Camps set up during the Nazi regime in World War II. These works form the basis for Priseman’s current show at CoCA: Gas Chambers.

[1] John Finlay, ‘The Devil’s in the Detail’ in Modern Means of Execution, Paintings and Etchings by Robert Priseman (Seabrook Press, 2009), p.9.