Anthony Yates was born in Birmingham, 1957.
From the age of 16 he was employed as a commercial artist in various studios around Edgbaston, Birmingham. Away from the commercial world he studied and worked at his own paintings until making the switch to full-time fine artist in the late 1990’s. In 1998 he was elected a member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA), remaining a member for 23 years until 2021.
Anthony is a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). He was elected in 2005. He has served on council and has represented the RBA as their Steward for the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution (AGBI).
Known for his oil paintings he also works across a variety of media. Exhibiting widely he has work in private collections both in the UK and abroad.
I make a lot of drawings and these are the source of my paintings; then they become something else; not a direct translation but a way of introducing work to my canvas. My paintings can go through many mutations before the final image is realised. Marks made suggest other marks. Marks made look wrong, incongruous, and are scraped or scrubbed out. Mark after mark is layered until the image emerges. I can’t say how this happens, but it is a way of producing what needs to be said, and when this is done the painting is finished. To make a definitive statement is impossible. Then there is the blackness of nothing.
2019 – present Trent Art, Newcastle-under-Lyme
2015 – present Geedon Gallery, Fingringhoe, Essex
2014 Russell Gallery, Putney, London
2013 Ruth Borchard Self-portrait competition
2006 – present Fosse Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold
2006 – present Purple Gallery, Bournville, Birmingham
2005 Chomé Fine Art, Bath
2004 NEAC (New English Art Club) London
2003 – present RBA (Royal Society of British Artists) London
2003, 2004 Ombersley Gallery, Ombersley, Worcestershire – 2003, 2004
2001 to 2008 Cowleigh Gallery, Malvern
1999 Galerie “De Herkening“, Amsterdam, Holland
· 1998 Laing landscape exhibition (National)
· 1998 Pastel Society, London
· 1996, 1997, 2004 RWA (Royal West of England Academy) Bristol
· 1979 – 2021 RBSA (Royal Birmingham Society of Artists) Birmingham
2024 The Whistler Award, RBA
2020 The Michael Harding Award, RBA Annual Exhibition
2017 The Artist Magazine Award, RBA Annual Exhibition
2012 RBSA Prize, selected by the Walsall Art Gallery
2007 Red Rag Gallery Award, RBA Annual Exhibition
2005 The TNT Award in RBSA Prize Exhibition
Davison Award for Best Group of Paintings, RBA Annual Exhibition
Highly Commended for Figure Work, RBSA Autumn Open
2002 The Kate Fryer Award, RBSA Prize Exhibition
1996 The Daler-Rowney Award, 1st Prize, RBSA Open Oil Exhibition