Oliver Winconek

Oliver Winconek was born in Bedford, England, and now lives and works in Buckinghamshire. Having chosen not to go down the route of formal art education, he is primarily self-taught. His work is always based around people, cities, or a combination of both. Over the years, Oliver’s work has continuously evolved, ranging from bold, graphic cityscapes, pen and ink drawings, to portraits in oil. “I love the fluidity of oils as well as their strong, robust textures. It’s easy to feel that you’re almost carving the portrait out of nothing when you’re applying paint to the canvas”. He prefers to let his working style be semi-dictated by the subject matter he is portraying. This allows him to have an organic method towards his work which keeps things interesting for both the artist and the viewer.

Oliver has exhibited all over the world, including The Royal College of Art and Saatchi Gallery. In 2017, he was featured on Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year, where he painted the actor Trevor Eve. Notable portrait commissions have included Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE, Jamie Staff MBE, Joe McFadden, and Laurie Kynaston. His work is held in both private and national collections.

“I am fascinated by people and the everyday, those situations and moments that we all encounter on a daily basis that often hold no obvious significance or resonance. The fleeting happenings that we take for granted are those that I like to use as a subject matter. I love experimenting with colour and pushing the boundaries of an image to increase interest.

I now work pretty solidly in oil, creating both portrait and figurative work, as well as cityscapes that reflect the buzz that you only get from a massive group of strangers inhabiting the same outdoor space or building.

My daily inspiration comes from the people I meet and the scenes that I discover. I find it very satisfying documenting elements of the world and the people within it via the medium of paint”.

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