Enzo Marra

I have been occupied with how the artworld can be seen, the processes and activities that occur behind the privacy of studio doors, the hanging and display of works animated by the commodified space of the gallery, the milling of observers in gallery spaces, the way that their presence then gives life and purpose to the works on display.

In my recent work I have been attempting to further reduce the detail within the finished images. I am also preferring to work from instinctive sketches and not found photographic imagery as my source material, to give them a more immediate appearance and to challenge me more in my practise. The trueness of inspiration, application and result becoming more relevant, allowing me to reassess what I feel is invigorating and explorable for me. 

The use of the deluge a metaphor for the creative struggle and the coping with reality that everyone has no choice but to attempt. My recent use of enamel on linen allowing my completed works to have the feel of the spontaneity of a drawing, whilst also emanating the concentrated quality from all the thought and studies that preceded it.


Enzo graduated from the University of Reading in 1999 and went to on study at MA level at the University of Brighton till 2001. In the UK he has been selected for the the John Moores Painting Prize in 2016 and 2012, the Threadneedle Prize in 2016, 2013, 2012 and 2010, the Creekside Open in 2017, 2015 and 2013, and the Zeitgeist Open in 2015 and 2014.

He was a prizewinner in the 2017 Creekside Open selected by Jordan Baseman at the APT Gallery, London, and was highly commended in the 2014 Beep Wales at the Elysium Gallery, Swansea.

He has also been included in the shortlist of 427 artists for the 100 Painters of Tomorrow and has been longlisted for the Charlie Smith Anthology in 2017, the John Moores Painting Prize in 2018 and 2014, and the Beers Contemporary Award for Emerging Art in 2013, where he received an honourable mention.

artist’s website