
Fabian Peake emerged as a painter on the London art scene in the late 1960s. In the decades since, he has expanded his practice including several dramatic stylistic leaps, each time mastering a new visual language and exploring its capacity for image making. While he started out as a painter, Peake’s later work broadened to incorporate tailored textile wall pieces, cut-out reliefs, sculpture, drawing, photography, writing and poetry, with each informing one another.
This landmark exhibition marks the artist’s 80th birthday and is a celebration of Peake’s broad and multifaceted career, as both artist and writer. Spanning six decades, the exhibition will encompass early paintings from the 1970s to new works and will showcase Peake’s playful and experimental use of diverse media.
Peake is the son of the writer, illustrator and artist Mervyn Peake (1911 – 1968), best known for the ‘Gormenghast’ series of fantasy novels, and the painter and writer Maeve Gilmore (1917 – 1983). Fabian Peake studied first at Chelsea College of Art and then at the Royal College of Art. As a student he met his wife, the artist Phyllida Barlow, with whom he has five children including the artists Eddie Peake and Florence Peake. For many years, Peake taught painting as a Senior Lecturer in the Fine Art Department of Manchester Metropolitan University, while continuing his own career as an artist. He has had numerous solo exhibitions, the most recent at the Kunstmuseum, Luzern in 2019 and has been included in various group exhibitions in Great Britain, Europe, the United States and South America. He lives and works in London.




Hauser & Wirth was founded in 1992 in Zurich by Iwan Wirth, Manuela Wirth and Ursula Hauser, who were joined in 2000 by Partner and Vice President Marc Payot. A family business with a global outlook, Hauser & Wirth has expanded over the past 26 years to include outposts in Hong Kong, London, New York, Los Angeles, Somerset and Gstaad. The gallery represents over 70 artists and estates who have been instrumental in shaping its identity over the past quarter century, and who are the inspiration for Hauser & Wirth’s diverse range of activities that engage with art, education, conservation and sustainability.

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