'INTO THE WORLD OF FINN STONE'
A solo exhibition at Woolff Gallery
7 August - 10 September 2024
Finn Stone (b.1971 London, UK) is a renowned contemporary artist and one of the UK’s leading designers in fibreglass furniture. Alongside his diverse and eclectic range of creations, he has always remained a painter and assemblagist. Venturing ever more expansively in between mediums, we took a trip to his North London studio to uncover some of his best-hidden gems in all of the styles. Ranging from brush paintings to retro resin-coated jackets, to fibreglass painted animals, welcome to the complete world of Finn Stone, a world of one of the most resolutely 'creative' people you might ever meet.
The images that follow are arranged into sections, each showcasing an element of Finn Stone's many processes or techniques. Please click each image to enlarge, and contact us for any further information or prices.
BRUSH PAINTINGS
Finn Stone’s brush paintings began entirely by accident. Whilst working on a floor-based piece one day, he remarked: “I had two paint brushes out, but I had to go. Later when I came back, the paintbrushes were stuck to the painting, and I thought, actually, no I quite like that!”, Stone's painted assemblages emerged to reconfigure popular works of art history, using only fragmented paint brushes as medium.
Finn Stone carefully places and colours each shard of wood to feed into the original painting’s story. These sought-after pieces have the effect of a wooden mosaic, paying homage to history whilst remaining resolutely a part of this painter’s workshop.
Finn Stone
Girl with a paintbrush
Paintbrushes assemblage
43 x 55cm
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Finn Stone
Frida
Paintbrushes assemblage
42 x 55cm
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Finn Stone
Mondrian
Paintbrushes assemblage
126 x 126cm
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Finn Stone
Kaleidescope
Paintbrushes assemblage
37.5 x 48cm
Finn Stone
Sunflowers
Paintbrushes assemblage
42 x 55cm
Finn Stone
The Big Splash
Paintbrushes
54 x 54cm
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Finn Stone
Untitled
Paintbrushes assemblage
122 x 152cm
SPOTLIGHT: UNTITLED
This ‘Untitled’ piece was a long-time source of frustration for Finn Stone. Time and perspective led him to revisit his collage of brushes with a layer of white, colourful drips, and another white coating. Traces of the American Abstract Expressionist Jackson Pollock can be seen between the layers, resulting in an altogether more subtle off-white piece which astounds in subtle colouring and soft pastel accents.
PORTRAITS
Finn Stone’s painted portraits each disguise a face: some are recognisable figures from pop culture, others would look at home in a magazine or billboard. What links them is a considered commitment to gesture. Horizontal strokes, thick textures, dream-like blurs and loose swathes of his brush pixellate each portrait, creating unique and abstract contexts for his sitters to exist in. Finn Stone exposes paint’s ability to play with our perceptions, concealing and reflecting our ability to recognise a human face. Spot Al Pacino and Lady GaGa in the mix!
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Finn Stone
Butterfly Rain
Acrylic and oil on canvas
51 x 77cm
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Finn Stone
Lady Gaga
Acrylic on Canvas
51 x 76cm
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Finn Stone
Al Pacino
Acrylic on canvas
51 x 76cm
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Finn Stone
They are not flowers #2
Acrylic on canvas
56 x 70cm
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Finn Stone
They are not flowers #1
Acrylic on canvas
56 x 70cm
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Finn Stone
A Dream Queen
Mixed media
66 x 96cm
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Finn Stone
Face 2
Acrylic on canvas
66 x 96cm
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Finn Stone
Dream Glazer
Acrylic on canvas
105 x 155cm
This painting is based off the film The Empress. ‘A Dream Queen’ depicts the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and is part of a collection where Finn takes inspiration from the movements and colours he perceives on screen. This portrait’s atmospheric quality and heavy impasto owes in part to the film’s surreal-like quality, and perhaps also to the cinematic context he was inspired by: Finn watched The Empress in the dark, blowing up some of the frames so that he could expound these texture more vividly.
A DREAM QUEEN
FREEDOM IS THE MESSAGE
In his Neo-Expressionist collection, Finn takes inspiration from the renowned Street artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
In these works, the canvas becomes a space to hold whatever comes to Finn’s mind as he grants himself the freedom to roam between pop references, song lyrics, slogans and abstract figures with rich, kaleidoscopic colouring and a unique grafitti-like style.
Together, they speak a simple message of freedom: in our contemporary society, sometimes we need new myths to proclaim the value in ‘anything goes, everything counts.’
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Finn Stone
I Am A Star
Mixed Media
80 x 100cm
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Finn Stone
Free The Souls
Mixed Media
99 x 115cm
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Finn Stone
Find Yourself
Mixed Media
38 x 43cm
RETROFITS
PATCH HEADS
Finn is an avid lover of 70s memorabilia and all things vintage, this collection of works began as just that: a collection. Badges, patches and slogans feature in glass cases on Finn’s old waistcoats and clothing. Covered in resin, they became a new kind of canvas, themed according to the object in question such as the Rock ’n' Roll Racer. Bright and glossy, these ‘retrofits’ are a sort of time capsule for the artist, a tribute to his younger self. He notes he used to wear such patches on his coats - a memory carried into his series of ‘Patch Heads’ where domestic animal heads get a fabric badge makeover.
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Finn Stone
Apache
Mixed Media
38 x 43 x 13cm
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Finn Stone
Rock n roll racer
Mixed Media and resin
97 x 127.5cm
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Finn Stone
A 70's piece
Mixed Media / patches & resin
51 x 66cm
If you are interested in any of the artworks shown the in Retrofit and Patches series by Finn Stone, please click on the button to enquire or contact us:
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Finn Stone
Patch the Dog
Mixed Media
20 x 24 x 24cm
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Finn Stone
Lobster Boy
Mixed Media / lights
64 x 75cm
FIBREGLASS MENAGERIE
These larger-than-life fibreglass animals bring Finn’s eccentric imagination into a domestic sphere. This dog is one of many off-shoots playing with both Damien Hirst’s polka dot series and the popular 80s franchise ‘Spot the Dog,’ whereas ‘One day we will all be free’ asks what the common ancestor of all painters might look like in a tongue-in-cheek manner.
Finn Stone
Spot the Dog
Fibreglass
71 x 60 x 21cm
Finn Stone
One day we will all be free
Fibreglass
70 x 42 x 40cm
PAINTED SCULPTURES
These miniature busts and cupids evoke the marble portraits you might find in a museum, but for one important distinction: each of them is dripping in paint. Finn disguises important figures in layers of acrylic: a three-dimensional abstract filter lending each a painterly feel, even though they remain, at heart, traditional sculptures.
Finn Stone
Painted Scuplture 1
Mixed media
23 x 18 x 8cm
Finn Stone
Painted Sculpture 2
Mixed media
26 x 20 x 10cm
Finn Stone
Painted Sculpture 3
Mixed media
47 x 18 x 18cm
Finn Stone
Painted Sculpture 4
Mixed Media
21 x 12 x 7cm
If you are interested in any of the artworks shown in the Painted Sculptures range by Finn Stone, please click on the button below to enquire or contact us:
STENCIL PORTRAIT
This portrait of Salvador Dalí is created through a playful and generous superposition of stencils. Orange and yellow spray paint merges with birds, bees and retro tattoo designs in red and blue.
If you are interested in the Stencil series, by Finn Stone please click on the button below to enquire or contact us:
Finn Stone
Salvador Dali
Spray painted stencil on repurposed cardboard
100 x 122cm
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TV INSTALLATION
This installation encapsulates The World of Finn Stone. His studio is bursting with collectables and items that can be tranformed into future artworks, amongst his collections are numerous vintage TV's and audio equiptment. These vintage pieces have been tweaked, polished and adapted by Stone, and are presented as this brilliant colourful installation.
If you are interested in the TV installation by Finn Stone, please click on the button to enquire or contact us:
ARTIST'S JACKETS
Finn’s Stone's exploration with paint knows no bounds: going so far as to seep into fashion. In his ‘Artists’ Jackets’ series, fabric becomes canvas, as he takes the signature style of some well-known artists and paints a suit jacket to match them accordingly. Can you guess the rack?
Finn Stone
Basquiat's Jacket
Mixed media & resin
Jacket size
Finn Stone
Pollock's Jacket
Mixed media & resin
Jacket size
Finn Stone
Graffitti Boy
Mixed media & resin
Jacket size
Finn Stone
Arman's Jacket
Mixed media & resin
Jacket size
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Woolff Gallery, 89 Charlotte Street, London, W1T 4PU, United Kingdom
T: +44 (0) 207 631 0551 E:info@woolffgallery.co.uk
Tues - Fri: Gallery open 11am - 6pm (or by appointment)
Saturday 11am-4pm