About

Biography, selected exhibitions, and studio practice.

Practice

Jeff Midghall is a contemporary British artist, born in Liverpool — painter, sculptor, and diver. He originally studied for a BSc in Metallurgy. After graduating he spent a decade travelling and working around the world, then returned to the UK to study Fine Art: a BA (Hons) in sculpture and painting, followed by a postgraduate in education.

Portrait paintings have been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery (London) and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (Edinburgh) as part of the BP Portrait Prize, and at the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum (Birkenhead). He was selected, highly commended, and later shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize in 2021 and 2023. He was selected for Sky Portrait Artist of the Year 2020, and withdrew before filming after a death in the family.

Sculptures have been exhibited at the McLellan Gallery (Glasgow) and Bury Art Gallery & Museum, as part of the Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts and Manchester Academy of Fine Arts annual exhibitions.

Approach

When painting he often starts from a photographic reference and then subverts it. Photographs can be a starting point; the image is reimagined through the materiality of paint — thick impasto, thin glazes, scratched and scraped, enlarged or reduced — while maintaining the image’s origin. The aim is not a photorealist copy, but a personal reinterpretation.

The practice also includes printmaking (the Movement screenprint series), drawings responding to climate and rising sea levels, underwater-inspired paintings from years of diving, and sculpture assembled from found and domestic objects.

Selected exhibitions

2025 — MEAM Hall, Espacio Jovellanos, Madrid (28 Aug – 10 Sept), Spain
2025 — MEAM Hall, Museu Europeu d’Art Modern, Barcelona (6 May – 24 Aug), Spain
2025 — “No Green Without Blue”, Fundación Cuixart, Palafrugell, Catalunya (4–27 Mar), Spain
2023 — XLIV Premio Gredos de Pintura, Arenas de San Pedro, Ávila (11 Oct – 12 Nov), Spain
2023 — The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, UK (shortlisted)
2023 — MEAM Hall, Museu Europeu d’Art Modern, Barcelona (24 Mar – 24 Oct), Spain
2021 — The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize, UK (longlist / highly commended)
2020 — Williamson Open, Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead, UK (online, Covid-19)
2020 — BP Portrait Award, Ulster Museum, Belfast (cancelled, Covid-19)
2020 — Sky Portrait Artist of the Year (selected; withdrew due to a death in the family)
2019 — BP Portrait Award, Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh (Dec 2019 – 22 Mar 2020)
2019 — “Face to Face”, 17 BP Portrait 2019 exhibitors, Cass Art Gallery Space, Islington, London
2019 — BP Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London (13 Jun – 20 Oct)
2019 — “Hyde Park II”, Dwie Zmiany, Sopot, Poland
2017 — “Noces de Cana”, Chapelle Paraire, Rodez, France
2017 — “Where are we?”, Château du Taurines, Centrès, France
2017 — “As Yet Untitled”, Le .B, Laguépie, France
2016–2017 — “Invitations d’artistes”, La Cabane, Tayrac, France
2014 — “ICI”, Galerie Quincaillerie, Naucelle, France
2013 — “Artamoi”, Galerie Quincaillerie, Naucelle, France
2012 — Centre d’Arts, Port de la Selva, Spain
2000 — Group show, Camberwell Arts Week, Camberwell, London
2000 — Spitfire, Stoke Newington Library & Gallery, London
1998 — Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, 139th Annual Exhibition, Bury Art Gallery & Museum
1998 — ANON, Castlegate House Gallery, Cockermouth, Cumbria
1997 — The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts 136th Annual, McLellan Gallery, Glasgow
1997 — Comme Ça, Up & Coming UK Artists, Ducie House, Manchester
1997 — K.I.A.D. Canterbury
1997 — Reeves & Neylan Summer Exhibition, St Margarets, Canterbury
1996 — Sala Picasso, Salamanca, Spain
1995 — Tabula Rasa, Canterbury
1994 — The Art Show, Alexandra Palace, London