In honour of Black History Month, we’re featuring some of the Black artists whose work is in the Paintings in Hospitals collection. Eugene Palmer is recognised as one of the leading Black artists working in Britain.

Palmer makes use of archival records, photographs, and contemporary media imagery in his paintings. 

As stated on his website, ‘since making a commitment to figurative painting, Eugene has taken as his subject assorted and diverse aspects of the Black presence in a number of contexts. Primarily, these are the Black presence in Europe, the Black presence internationally, the Black Presence in portrait photography and the Black presence in Western (art) history.’

His work has been exhibited across the UK, most recently at the James Hockey Gallery in Farnham, with Didn’t It Rain (2018): a body of work ‘exploring the enduring relationship between Black people, the church and the idea of the extended family’.

Palmer was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1955 and moved to Birmingham, England in 1966. He graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Wimbledon College of Arts in 1978 and completed an MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths College, University of London in 1985. He has had a long association with art curators and exhibitors Eddie Chambers and Keith Piper (artist). He currently lives and works in London.

Eugene Palmer, Songs on the Sea (1). Part of the Paintings in Hospitals collection.

Paintings in Hospitals acquired Songs on the Sea (1) in 2012 with Arts Council funding. It’s an oil on canvas portrait painting.

It’s currently not out on loan – where should it come to next? Let us know!