P.J Crook – The Quest (2009)

Born in Cheltenham, where she still lives, PJ studied at Gloucestershire College of Art and Design. She was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts in 2010 and then in 2011 an MBE for services to art in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

From a studio opposite her house, she manages compositions on a monumental scale. Paintings can measure up to 2 x 4.5 metres and she equally paints small pictures, some no larger than 10 cm square. She works in tinted gesso, acrylic and sometimes in oil on canvas, or on a corrugated wood support. This gives a 3D effect to her work, as does her practice of incorporating the frame within the composition. A recurring theme within her work is crowd interaction. Some of these paintings have been used as covers for King Crimson’s recent albums.

PJ is represented by galleries in London, New York, Paris and Toronto. Her work is in major corporate collections principally in Japan, France, Saudi Arabia, England and the USA. PJ’s work is also displayed within Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Gloucester City Museum and Art Gallery, Imperial War Museum, Morohashi Museum of Modern Art, and Standard Chartered Bank. Paul Allen, the Marquess of Bath, Toyah Willcox and the late Jackie Collins are among those who have works in their private collections.

PJ is a Patron of the National Star College Cheltenham, Trustee and Director of the Artists Collecting Society, President of the Friends of Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum, Ambassador of the Royal Society of Arts. She is also a member of the Royal West of England Academy and Manchester Academy of Fine Art, Chelsea Arts Club and the Honourable Company of Gloucestershire.