Installation view of Sholto Blissett: Rubicon (January 25-February 22, 2023) at Alexander Berggruen, NY.
Sholto Blissett (b. 1996, Salisbury, UK) constructs fantastical landscapes, marked by imagined monuments, topiary, and the suggestion of human presence within the natural world. They are eerie scenes suffused with the tension between human attempts to modify nature, and nature’s resistance to these contortions.
Blissett received an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art in London and a BA in Geography from Durham University in Durham, England. He is represented by Alexander Berggruen, New York, NY. The artist’s work has been exhibited at Alexander Berggruen, New York, NY; Hannah Barry Gallery, London, UK; Colnaghi, London, UK; Hauser & Wirth, Somerset, UK; Peres Projects, Milan, IT and Berlin, GE; Nassima Landau Art Foundation, Tel Aviv; Mattia di Luca Gallery, Rome, IT; The Artist Room, London, UK; Huxley-Parlour, London, UK; White Cube, London, UK; Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; and L.U.P.O., Milan, IT among others. Blissett lives and works in London, UK.
Sholto Blissett in the studio, London, UK, 2023. Photo: GH Photo Studios
SHOLTO BLISSETT: THE WHITE HEAT OF COLD WATER
September 10-October 15, 2025
SHOLTO BLISSETT: RUBICON
January 25-February 22, 2023
THE NATURAL WORLD: PART II
March 9-April 13, 2022
SHOLTO BLISSETT, EMMA FINEMAN, MADELINE PECKENPAUGH
December 10, 2021-January 22, 2022
Over the past few years, British artist Sholto Blissett (b. 1996) has garnered attention with his eerie and seemingly airtight natural vistas, where mountains and lakes are interrupted by imaginary monuments—fortress-like castles, topiaries, and monuments. The scenes are disquietingly serene and pristine, with no humans to be found.
Blissett, who has a degree in geography, said in a 2022 interview that during his studies he was “made aware of the falseness of the Romantic division between humans and nature–indeed, of the very construction of ‘Nature.’” His works prod these ingrained beliefs, asking viewers to consider the real-world consequences of the notion that nature is something humans can control and exploit.
Blissett’s next show will be in September at Alexander Berggruen in New York. Earlier this year, at London’s Hannah Barry Gallery, he removed almost all traces of human presence in the paintings, suggesting a prehuman history or perhaps a far-off future. For many artists exploring the para-pastoral, post-humanism is never far off.
The art magazine HypeArt for Hypebeast named Sholto Blissett an “up-and-coming artist” in their announcement of the gallery’s solo show. Zoe Leung writes: “The show is made up of an intimate collection of paintings featuring Blissett’s signature Impressionistic yet dream-like sceneries that envelop fictional monuments.”
Nature isn’t something awesome, awful, and “other”; we can’t look from a near-yet-removed precipice at it, for we are within it, together. Hence, my paintings place the manmade architectural features within the landscape by literally putting them within the painting, in the mid-ground & center. This is not to suggest that humans are the center of attention; rather, that we are subsumed by & should be working with to be part of the natural world. Indeed, despite the lavish architectural designs, “nature” is creeping in, as topiary.
I’m currently working on paintings that will be exhibited at Alexander Berggruen in New York in January 2023, this will include my largest-scale painting yet.
We are delighted to share that our exhibition Sholto Blissett, Emma Fineman, Madeline Peckenpaugh has been included in “Editors’ Picks” on Artnet News. Tanner West described the show as:
“Three contemporary artists whose work probe depictions of time and space are on view in a group show at Alexander Berggruen on Madison Avenue. Each artist’s approach to depicting environments appear to be inspired by Surrealism, with distorted landscapes and tilted perspectives that challenge the viewer.”
On the occasion of Alexander Berggruen’s exhibition Sholto Blissett: Rubicon (January 25-February 22, 2023), we are delighted to share a new editorial feature by Flora Blissett, Sholto’s sister. Flora explores Sholto’s work through an intimate lens, revealing how his interests appear in his paintings and exploring the work’s underlying metaphorical suggestions.
On the occasion of Alexander Berggruen’s two-part exhibition The Natural World, we are delighted to share a new editorial feature in which Kirsten Cave connects the works in both exhibitions and discusses the emergent themes. Driven by statements from the artists about their work, Cave acknowledges the historical condition of climate change and explores how “attitudes and approaches to The Natural World range from studies of subject matter, line, color, and form, to meditations on symbolism, history, and projection.”
On the occasion of our exhibition Sholto Blissett, Emma Fineman, Madeline Peckenpaugh (December 10, 2021-January 22, 2022), we spoke with the artists about their work.
