Trevor Guthrie
| Trevor Guthrie | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 Dunfermline, Scotland |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Scottish / Canadian |
| 🏫 Education | Victoria College of Art |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Charcoal drawing |
| Notable work | Self Portrait on the 67 (2004); Fox News (The War on Cheerleading) (2007); Hindenbunny (Metaphor for early 21st-Century Art Market Hype) (2010) |
| Movement | Contemporary art |
| 🌐 Website | trevorguthrie |
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Trevor Guthrie (born 1964) is a Scottish-born, Canada-raised contemporary artist based in Zürich, Switzerland. He is known for large-scale charcoal drawings that blend cinematic realism with expressive mark-making. His major shows include the Pera Museum’s And Now the Good News (Istanbul, 2022) and a 20-year retrospective at Villa Bührle, Zürich (2024).[1][2]
Early life and education
Guthrie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1964, and grew up in Canada. He graduated cum laude in painting from the Victoria College of Art (1985–1989).[3]
Career
After relocating to Zürich in 1997, Guthrie began showing internationally. His Another Sputnik Moment solo show at Claire Oliver Gallery (2011) drew praise for its "spectacular large-format charcoal presence."[4] Guthrie has exhibited widely—from Seoul to Los Angeles—and is included in private and corporate collections globally.[3]
Work
Guthrie’s charcoal drawings are celebrated for their formidable scale and psychological depth. In a 2016 Whitehot essay, art critic Noah Becker writes:
> “When one first views a Guthrie drawing, there is an instant shock… the camera’s version of reality’s ghost.”[5]
Becker traces Guthrie’s charcoal focus to 12-hour figure marathons at art school, calling his mature work "a new chapter in the history of two-dimensional works on paper." The artist rejects photorealism, instead describing his surfaces as “a symphony of mistakes” that coalesce from a distance.[5][3]
In a 2007 interview, Guthrie explained that he uses charcoal to re-present found photography as a "visual diary," layering historical and personal subject matter while avoiding stylistic imitation of artists like Bacon or Richter. He seeks to evoke memory rather than mimic reality.[6]
Reception
Critic Donald Kuspit has interpreted Guthrie's work as a potent engagement with realism through a “New Old Master” lens, calling it both evolving and incisive.[7] Another critic asserts that Guthrie’s "psychological undercurrents" and scale align his images with cinematic tradition rather than classical drawing.[8]
Selected exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
- **2024** – Drawings 2004–2024, Villa Bührle, Zürich[2]
- **2011** – Another Sputnik Moment, Claire Oliver Gallery, New York[4]
- **2008** – The Finished Drawing, MV Art Projects, Zürich (described as “camera’s reality ghost” style)[6]
- Additional solo exhibitions between 2005–2021 are listed in the artist’s bio.[9]
Group exhibitions (selection)
- **2022** – Pera Museum, Istanbul (And Now the Good News)[1]
- **2022** – Gian Enzo Sperone, Sent (Summer 2022)[9]
- **2023** – MART Rovereto; Gian Enzo Sperone (Summer 2023)[9]
- Additional group exhibitions are listed in the artist’s bio.[9]
Collections
The Burger Collection (Hong Kong / Zürich) holds Self Portrait on the 67 (2004). Guthrie’s Hindenbunny (Metaphor for early 21st-Century Art Market Hype) appeared at Christie’s South Kensington in 2011.[10]
Bibliography
- Becker, Noah. “Images and Ideas: Trevor Guthrie.” Whitehot Magazine, April 2016.[5]
- Kuspit, Donald. “Trevor Guthrie: Cynical Realist.” Whitehot Magazine.[7]
- “Letter From the Editor.” Whitehot Magazine, Oct 2011.[4]
- “In Conversation: Trevor Guthrie.” The Woolf, August 2018.[3]
- “Transcendence in the Monochrome.” Gainsayer, March 2019.[8]
- “Interview: Trevor Guthrie.” Whitehot Magazine, Dec 2007.[6]
External links
This article "Trevor Guthrie" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Trevor Guthrie. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "And Now the Good News". Pera Museum. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Retrospective: Drawings 2004–2024". Likeyou. 17 September 2024. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "In Conversation: Trevor Guthrie". The Woolf. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Letter From the Editor". Whitehot Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Becker, Noah (April 2016). "Images and Ideas: Trevor Guthrie". Whitehot Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Becker, Noah. "December 2007 Interview". Whitehot Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Kuspit, Donald. "Trevor Guthrie: Cynical Realist". Whitehot Magazine. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Transcendence in the Monochrome". Gainsayer. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "Bio". Trevor Guthrie. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
- ↑ "Hindenbunny (Metaphor for early 21st Century Art Market Hype) – auction result". MutualArt. Retrieved 12 August 2025.
