Liverpool Radicals

Steve Randall is a self-taught naïve artist, working solely in oils, ranging from figurative illustrations to contemporary palette knife pieces and schematic landscapes.

Born in Walton in 1968, Steve’s artistic journey unfolded later in life, prompted by a terminal illness diagnosis received by his beloved wife Canan. Perhaps realising that Steve needed something to keep him sane throughout this journey, she told him she had “always wanted to be married to an artist”. And so, in 2015, Steve began a complete shift from a career in financial services to painting and raising money for charitable causes. 

He rented a studio in Roscoe Street, becoming part of The Well collective and began to paint memories that he and Canan were creating as well as scenes from his childhood in Liverpool and Kirkby. 

His remarkable emergence has seen him hold a solo exhibition in Kirkby Gallery in 2021, and complete commissions for Knowsley Council as part of their Borough of Culture in 2022. In November 2022, three of Steve’s pieces formed part of the 100-piece Art of the Terraces Exhibition in The Walker, sharing wall space with Turner prize winners, celebrated commercial artists and stars of the established art scene. 

His artistic development is deeply influenced by his family, including his shipwright and wrought-iron sculptor grandfather and amateur cartoonist mother. Drawing inspiration from renowned artists like Hopper, Ryden, Lowry, and religious art, Steve seamlessly infuses humour and stylistic references into his work.

His art is ever-developing to cover social issues linked to mental health, raising awareness for his wife’s illness and representing real-life events in surreal works.

Canan’s faith in Steve’s previously untapped creativity has enabled the couple to generate over £38k for charities since 2016. Steve is also the artist in residence at Aintree Hospital and regularly exhibits on the walls in Aintree Lodge.  

@steverandallart