For his fourth consecutive participation in the Personal Structures exhibition at Palazzo Bembo during the Venice Biennale, British painter Lincoln Townley presents work across three rooms - oils at intimate scale, monumental canvases, and a new body of vivid embellished screen prints. His figures wear the mask of power and ambition, but Townley is interested in what lies beneath it: the emotion, the vulnerability, the humanity that success cannot conceal. To stand before these paintings is to close the distance between painter, subject, and viewer - and to find, behind the facade, something more fragile, more familiar, and unexpectedly beautiful.
Beauty built upon power
For Venice 2026, Townley expands the psychological terrain of the Success series, unveiling monumental new paintings that examine “power consuming power,” the driving force behind his ongoing study of ambition as both a creative and destructive energy. These new canvases channel the relentless motion of global finance, portraying its participants not as portraits but as archetypes - figures dissolving into abstraction, driven by the same hunger that defines the city of Venice itself: beauty built upon power, and power built upon desire.
Success is not created in the light, it is forged in silence, obsession and the willingness to survive what destroys others. The works shown here are only part of the story. For access to unseen works held beyond the walls of the Venice Palazzo, contact the studio privately.
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Showcase For Collectors
As with his previous Venice appearances, the 2026 show is also a participatory event for collectors and investors in Townley’s Success Collection, whose works are being exhibited as part of the wider installation - an opportunity for private collectors to share in one of the world’s most visible and enduring art platforms. Running for seven months, and seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors, the Venice Biennale remains the ultimate test of artistic vision and endurance.
For Townley, it is the arena most aligned with his central pursuit: to reveal, without apology, the power that drives the modern world.
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Whether you are interested in acquiring a work, attending an upcoming exhibition, or simply wish to learn more about the studio and its programme, we would be delighted to hear from you.
