Max Naylor is a British contemporary artist based in Bristol, UK. His paintings and works on paper construct vivid alternate worlds inspired by nature, memory, travel, and the subconscious. Through dense foliage, shifting skies, and dreamlike landscapes, Naylor creates richly layered “mindscapes” that feel both familiar and otherworldly. Alongside his studio practice, he is a tutor at The Royal Drawing School in London and has exhibited widely throughout the UK and internationally.
Naylor describes his practice as “constructing an alternate universe,” with each painting offering “another glimpse into this other realm.” His works resemble the natural world seen through the filter of personal consciousness, where plants, landscapes, and atmospheric passages become part of an expanding inner terrain. Working instinctively across paper and canvas, he allows images to develop over time, enlarging what he describes as his “personal microcosm.”
2025 The Thin Veil, Field System, Ashburton, Devon
BioPhillia: Enchanted Realities of Max Naylor, XeniArtSpace, Limassol, Cyprus
2016 Prema Art Centre, Gloucestershire
2015 Electric Dreams, Antlers Gallery, Bristol
Headlands, Mercer Chance Gallery, London
2011 Mindscapes, Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham
SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Rhodes Contemporary, London
2024-2020 The Violet Hour, Online
2022 Irving Contemporary, Online
2021-2020 Blue Shop Cottage, Online
2019 The Violet Hour, London
2018 Beep Painting Biennial, Swansea
Mandells Gallery, Norwich
2017 Cenre Space, Bristol
2016 The Violet Hour, London
2014 Blain Southern, London
2013 Pump House Gallery, London
Bosse and Baum, London
The Violet Hour, London
RWS Contemporary Watercolour, London
Turner's House, Sandycombe Lodge, London
2012 Antlers, Bradford
2011 Antlers, Bristol
RESIDENCIES
2017 Artist in Residence, El Segundo Museum of Art, El Segundo, CA
Borgo Pignano, Tuscany
2013 International Institute of Fine Art, teaching and studio residency, Delhi and Modinagar, India
