Reuben Colley

Biography

Born in 1976 in England, Reuben Colley has had an exciting and whirlwind advance to the top of the art world. His artistic talent was recognized at secondary school, where he was awarded an astonishing 100% in his art GCSE. He went on to study A-level art, gaining an A grade in this subject, but failing his others due to the amount of time spent in the art room!

Reuben's formal education started at Bournville Art College, where he studied for a BTEC National Diploma in Art & Design, specializing in Fine Art, from 1994-1995. He was awarded a BA Hons 2 (i) in Fine Art from the University of Wolverhampton in 1998.

A recent move to Worcestershire sparked an interest in landscapes, which developed into more emphasis being placed on representing the feel and the atmosphere of a place rather than a detailed description of the scenery. Reuben has developed a wide range of techniques, far from the traditional; use of the brush, which he uses as a "vocabulary" to describe the environments in his paintings.

Since graduating less than two years ago, Reuben has become recognized as one of the leading young talents in the contemporary art world. His first one-man show was held at Circo, Birmingham in May 1999 - it was to be exhibited for six weeks; his work is still on the walls of this popular venue. Reuben achieved sell-out success during the Halcyon Gallery's "Art in Miniature" exhibition in December 1999, and most recently his oil originals have been shown in Manchester in an exhibition sponsored by Smirnoff, from February to April 2000.