Heather Nevay's biography

Heather Nevay was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 13th January 1965. She studied at Glasgow School of Art and graduated with BA Hons., Art and Design (Printed Textiles) in 1988. She is a member of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts.

Heather has exhibited regularly at the Compass Gallery and Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow, and the Portal Gallery, London. Heather has also exhibited many times in important mixed shows at the Royal Academy, The Royal Scottish Academy, The Society of Scottish Artists, The Royal Glasgow Institute, and at the London and Glasgow Art Fairs.

Heather uses symbolism to express ideas of heroism, weakness, fear and the shifting balance of human relationships. Her paintings are mostly figurative with colour being an important element of her work.

Professional

2015 Elected Member of The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts (RGI).
1999-2009 Coatbridge College, North Lanarkshire – Lecturer in Art (3D Studies) part-time, working with special needs children.

1995-1997 Paisley Art Centre; created and ran children’s art classes (part-time).
1993-2002 Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow – Gallery Assistant (part-time).
1993-1995 Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow – taught art classes in acute ward (part-time)

Commissions

2016 "The Lesson" commissioned by Arts Council England for “Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter” a curated exhibition at The Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Bristol.

Solo Exhibitions

2018 London Preview at Stallan-Brand, Glasgow
2015 “Pelt”, Portal Painters, London.
2013 "Flesch and Blood", 101 Exhibit, Miami.
2009 "The Savage Garden", The Portal Gallery, London.
2007 "Showtime", The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.
2005 "The Playroom", The Portal Gallery, London.
2003 The Portal Gallery, London.
2001 The Portal Gallery, London.
1999 The Glasgow Vennel Gallery, Irvine.
1999 Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow.
1995 Cyril Gerber Fine Art, Glasgow.
1991 "Nice House", Princes Square, Glasgow.
1990 "One", Princes Square, Glasgow.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2021 5@GPS, Group Show at Glasgow Print Studio.
2020 "21st Century Women", The Backdoor Gallery, Clydebank.
2017 "Taste Art", Loch Fyne Oysters, Cairndow, Argyll.
2014 Flower Pepper Gallery, Pasadena, CA.
2014 101 Exhibit Gallery, Los Angeles.
2014 Union Gallery, Edinburgh.
2013, 2014 Copro Gallery, Los Angeles.
2012, 2014 Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.
2010 "Four Scottish Artists": Whyn Lewis, James McNaught, Heather Nevay, Peter Thomson at Portal Painters, London.
2010 "Spectators" - Group Exhibition with Helen Flockhart and Peter Thomson, Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh.
2010 Beinart Collective Group Exhibition, Copro Gallery, Santa Monica, California.
2009 "The Portal Gallery is Fifty", an exhibition of fifty works by Portal Painters.
2008 Flockhart, Nevay, Thomson: Group Exhibition, Mansfield Park Gallery, Glasgow.
2004 Tanglewood Festival, Boston, USA (with The Portal Gallery).
2002 Prize Winner, The Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London.
2001 Cyril Gerber Award, Paisley Art Institute 113th Annual Exhibition, Paisley Museum.
2000 Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Eton Award, Paisley Art Institute 112th Annual Exhibition, Paisley Museum.
2000 Noble Grossart Painting Prize Finalist, RSA, Edinburgh & Glasgow School of Art.
1999 Morrison Portrait Award Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
1993 Morrison Portrait Award Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
1992 to Present - Regular Exhibitor at:

Royal Scottish Academy
Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts

Curated Exhibitions

2016 “Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter” a curated exhibition at The Royal West of England Academy (RWA), Bristol.
2015 "Realised" a curation including Valerio Adami, Clare Andrews, Edward Burra, James Castle, Antony Donaldson, Alexander Guy, Derrick Guild, Jon Lyons, Ian Howard, Alexander Fraser, Heather Nevay, Alan Macdonald, Julie Roberts, Michael Sandle, Ian Charles Scott, Ruth Stiven, Elaine Wilson, Adrian Wiszniewski. 189th RSA Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh. Curated by Alan Robb RSA.
2015 "Phantstiche Venus": A curated exhibition with 70 selected artists, Viechtach, Bavaria, Germany.
2013 “Hey!” Art Show Part II, Musee De La Halle St. Pierre, Paris.

Awards

2016 RSA Maude Gemmell Hutchison Prize, RSA Open Exhibition, Edinburgh.
2002 Prize Winner, The Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London.
2001 Cyril Gerber Award, Paisley Art Institute 113th Annual Exhibition, Paisley Museum.
2000 Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Eton Award, Paisley Art Institute 112th Annual Exhibition, Paisley Museum.

Publications

2016 "Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter" Edited by Marie Mulvey-Roberts and Fiona Robinson
2016 "4 Degrees Art" Special Issue No. 2 published by Hey! Art Magazine, Paris
2015 "Phantastiche Venus"
2014 “Fantasy” Edition, Miroir Magazine, Seattle, Washington.
2013 “Hey!” Art Show Part II published by Hey! Art Magazine, Paris.
2012 R.I.P. Magazine feature, Russia.
2009 “A Singular Vision”, Fifty years of Portal Painters.
2009 Metamorphosis 2: 50 Contemporary Surreal, Fantastic and Visionary Artists", published by BeinArt Publishing.

The writer and film maker James Burge wrote the piece which follows to accompany the exhibition at the Portal Gallery in 2005:

"Heather Nevay’s paintings shock at first sight. She employs a repertoire of images that appear to have found their way to us from Hieronymus Bosch via classic cinematic horror: dogs with human heads, sinister little girls playing with lifelike dolls, a dark woodland teeming with tiny animals in strange clothing. They frequently depict children, surprised in the middle of some incomprehensible ritual, staring out at us with hostility and contempt.

But to see in these pictures a simple-minded desire to shock would be a great mistake. Heather Nevay’s work is distinguished not by sensation-seeking antics but by the richness and universality of its insights. The artist herself belies any suggestion of dark horror: she is quick-witted and humorous (‘Oh yes’, she says cheerily, ‘people who look at my paintings for the first time often think I need psychiatric help’) and displays an intense interest in the world around her. She graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1988 and has painstakingly built up her own style, winning a series of prestigious awards on the way, until she has become one of Portal’s most sought-after artists. Those who collect her paintings find that it is the psychological sophistication of her work that endows it with its lasting appeal.

Although her imagery comes from a complex personal mythology (she has become adept at giving good-naturedly enigmatic answers to questions like ‘What does the minuscule sheep with the clown’s hat actually mean?’) she uses it to examine aspects of experience which are common to all of us. The children in her paintings have been surprised in play, at the very moment when they start to learn about the emotions which shape all our lives. As she says, ‘I'm interested in the games in which children take part which fall into traditional roles and activities. I look at the duplicity of the play which is often the cause of misinterpretation of adult onlookers. I am not storytelling but I want to offer a glimpse of a scene which will continue after our gaze has moved on. I don't want to paint horrific scenes, but sometimes I have to create an atmosphere of uncomfortable feelings.’

The dolls the children play with become lovers, rivals, friends or children – whatever is required for the particular game. It is the emotional investment which the child makes in the toy or doll which fascinates her. Sometimes, she explains, she shows girls practicing for the different roles of womanhood – wife/lover, mother, sister – or experimenting with flirtation, exploring the sexual aspect of being female in the safe environment of a playroom. ‘I want to look at the ritualistic aspects of play which still seem to reinforce gender stereotypes with no ground in modern life. The world of the fairytale is long past, but it seems to be a place children still like to inhabit.’

The strange, unsentimental images of Heather Nevay remind us that childhood is not only a frightening experience but also that it is the foundation of adulthood. The shock that her paintings produce is not the shock of the bizarre but the surprised recognition of something half-remembered within ourselves."