Clive Hodgson (b. 1953, UK) is a painter whose work persistently tests painting’s conventions through recurring signatures, dates, and pared-back motifs. Alongside his abstractions, Hodgson has quietly pursued still-life painting since 2006, depicting the strangeness and mystery of ordinary things. 

Recent solo projects include Clive Hodgson at Drake’s, curated by Arcade, London, UK (2021); C. Hodgson with B. Wurtz, Arcade, Brussels, BE (2020); Still Life, Arcade, London, UK (2019); The Electrician’s Nightmare, Galerie Tatjana Pieters, Ghent, BE (2018); and Clive Hodgson, White Columns, New York, US (2014). Group exhibitions include Le Realtà Ordinarie, Palazzo De’ Toschi, Bologna, IT (2020); In This Soup We Swim, Kingsgate Workshops, London, UK (2016); and Slow Learner, Timothy Taylor, London, UK (2014). His works are currently on view at Arcade's newly opened gallery space in London (until 14.02.26)

Hodgson lives and works in London, UK.

“The blatancy of recent abstractions by Clive Hodgson is perhaps a function of the sheer urge to make painting ‘difficult’ again, in a time when almost anything seems assimilable into the open field of contemporary art. It is hard to imagine any painting creating the sort of unease today that Hélion’s or Guston’s style shifts did. Yet Hodgson’s refusal of any ‘touch’, his ultra-thin application straight onto white primer, and his use of ornamentalism, are all truly and excitingly disconcerting.”

Merlin James