Though primarily a painter of London, Ed Gray also depicts characters he finds on the streets of cities such as Mexico City, Tokyo, and New York, capturing the different paces and ways of life in these disparate places. Inspired by the works of Hogarth, Breughel, and the Tintin cartoons of Herge that he loved as a child, Gray’s work captures moments in the everyday lives of the people that he encounters during his search for inspiration.
Gray studied Fine Art at Wimbledon, and Cardiff University of Wales and subsequently undertook many jobs in order to fuel his desire to paint. In 1998 he trained to be a teacher and taught Art and Design at a secondary school in Peckham. He did this for four years before taking a sabbatical and completing a residency for the Masterworks foundation of Bermuda. Two very successful exhibitions in Bermuda led Gray to take a painting trip through South America. Following this, he left his career as an art teacher in order to become a professional artist.
Gray’s work has been increasingly successful both at home and abroad. In 2009 he was chosen to represent England for the official International Fine Art collection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa. His depiction of a Capetown township football match featured in a global touring exhibition. ‘One Year’ a documentary film about Ed Gray’s paintings currenctly is in the Tate Britain Archive.