BIO

William Cotterill is a British painter based in the United Kingdom. He studied at Central Saint Martins, UAL, where he has also returned as a guest lecturer.

His work uses landscape as a structural starting point, developing paintings in which the image is held in a state of instability. Working from observed environments, Cotterill builds surfaces through layered applications of paint, allowing forms to emerge, fragment, and be partially reabsorbed.

Rather than resolving into fixed scenes, the paintings occupy a shifting space between recognition and dissolution. Architectural elements, horizons, and terrain remain present but are disrupted by material interference, creating a tension between depth and surface.

Through a restrained palette and a focus on erosion, interruption, and repetition, the work explores how images persist, break down, and reform over time.

Cotterill has exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions across the United Kingdom, including presentations at Central Saint Martins, Lewisham Arthouse, and Cornerstone Arts Centre, Oxfordshire. His work is held in private collections and the University of the Arts London collection.

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

2021, Sudden Portals, Cornerstone Arts Centre, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2019, Stranger Paintings, St Helen & St Katherine’s, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2016, Maps For Loners, 2SR Art Space, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2012, Tangle of Matter & Ghost, Art Jericho, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Selected Group Exhibitions:

2024, O.S.D 4, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2023, Metajoy, 2SR Art Space, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2022, O.S.D 3, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2020, Cornerstone At Home, Cornerstone Arts Centre, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2019, Surface & Skin, 2SR Art Space, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2018, Conspiracies, Lewisham Art House, London, United Kingdom

2017, After The Flood, 2SR Art Space, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2016, Somewhat Liminal, 2SR Art Space, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2015, Summer Exhibition, Oxford Town Hall, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2014, O.S.D 2, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2013, London Art Fair, Jenny Blyth Fine Art, London, United Kingdom

2012, New Perspectives, Branca, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2012, O.S.D 1, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2011, Halcyon, Art Jericho, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2011, Art In Woodstock, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

2011, Hello, Goodbye, Lethaby Gallery, Central Saint Martins, London, United Kingdom

2011, Elms Lester Painting Room, London, United Kingdom

2011, The Old Truman Brewery, London, United Kingdom

2011, Back Hill, Central Saint Martins, London, United Kingdom

Collections:
University of The Arts Collection, Central Saint Martins, London, United Kingdom

Residencies:
2019, St Helen & St Katherine, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Press & Publications:
Anne James, ‘Haunting exhibition’, Oxford Mail, 2012