Kev Hopper

Some thoughts

“Painting can feel like navigating a paradox: one can be caught between contextual analysis, premeditation, and fleeting bursts of spontaneity and it’s this bumpy road of contrasts that’s draws me in and sustains my interest. Like most modern painters I fret about what approach to take when painting, obsess over surfaces and worry about the relevance of my subject matter and as a result most of my work is carefully planned with a little bit of room for improvisation and experimentation. Thankfully there are occasional, joyful exceptions to the rule when paintings will simply emerge organically or spontaneously with little effort. In the best circumstances the silly and the sensible, the methodical and the impulsive, the abstract and representational will operate in dialogue and exist simultaneously and symbiotically. In the worst, well…it’s back to the drawing board”

Background

Kev Hopper studied Fine Art at Coventry University 1980-83 and after leaving pursued a career in music founding the bands, Stump, Ticklish and Prescott. He has collaborated with Christian Marclay at the White Cube gallery and David Toop at the Hayward and performed at the Nam June Paik awards. Kev still writes and performs music but painting has become his main activity since 2021 with exhibitions in Margate, Whitstable and the Deptford X festival. He was a 2025 exhibitor at the prestigious John Moores painting prize held at Liverpool’s Walker gallery.