Sladmore Gallery is delighted to announce Old Friends, New Faces, a solo exhibition of new and recent animal portraits on paper by one of the UK’s leading wildlife artists, Rose Corcoran. Corcoran brings to her work a sense of the living personality of the animal which few artists have achieved; vividly portraying both the rare beauty of her subjects but also Corcoran’s deep connection to them.

Old Friends, New Faces is the first opportunity to view Rose’s stunning and meticulous works on paper since her critically acclaimed exhibition at Asprey London in 2014. Compared to the great Victorian wildlife artist, Edward Landseer by art historian, Edward Lucie-Smith, Corcoran’s work references the illustrious lineage of wildlife artists from this country but brings to her subject something entirely fresh and animated.

The title of the exhibition Old Friends, New Faces, references both Corcoran’s frequent subjects - the much loved tigers which have become her signature, and a brand new series of works made especially for this exhibition, featuring black panthers for the first time.

Corcoran has devoted more than 15 years to studying her wild subjects; particularly the enigmatic Indian tigers which have seen her make frequent visits to the country to observe them in their native habitat. Her abiding fascination with tigers began with a trip to Dharamsala where she lived for a year and Corcoran has gone on to undertake numerous trips across India in order to study and catch glimpses of her elusive subject in the wild.

The bond which Corcoran has formed with her most famous subjects has led her to become deeply involved in conservation work for this critically endangered creature. Earlier this year Corcoran’s drawings were one of the highlights of an exhibition at the Café Royal in aid of Save Wild Tigers, with works auctioned by Paddle Eight and the artist is particularly active in her support for tiger conservation in India, often working in association with the leading tiger conservationist, Valmik Thapar.

In recent years Corcoran’s work with Thapar and her deep understanding of tigers has led to her being asked to contribute a chapter on the conservationist’s authoritative title Tiger: The Ultimate Guide.

Thapar recently commented:

Rose Corcoran’s work is breathtaking... it captures the very essence of wild animals from their immense strength and power to their elegance and fluidity.

The exhibition at Sladmore Contemporary will comprise 30 works, including 10 new large scale drawings and 3 new coloured silk screens which will also feature unusual additions including black diamond dust and velvet flocking.

A percentage of the profits from sales at this exhibition will go to the conservation charity, The Wildlife Protection Society of India, which Rose has actively supported for the last 5 years.

Rose Corcoran studied History of Art at Edinburgh University, before completing a Masters in Fine Art at the Royal College of Art. A period living in northern India in 1990 was formative to her artistic development, forging a lifelong relationship with the continent and its wildlife – but most particularly the critically endangered tigers which have become an abiding presence and subject matter for her. Corcoranhas staged numerous solo exhibitions with the Sladmore Gallery in London, the Gerald Peters Gallery in New York and Santa Fe as well as Galerie La Cymaise in Paris. Her work is held in important private collections in Africa, India, France, Italy, Switzerland, UK and the USA.