LYDIA BLAKELEY
"The source imagery for the inspiration behind the paintings seems to almost always originate from the digital life I spend online… whether it's on social media, scrolling through instagram or newsfeeds-that's always a starting point. I literally just have saved images; I save images to my camera roll. I'm constantly screenshotting. I might have an image in my camera roll for, like, a year, and then I'll suddenly start working on it."
–Lydia Blakeley, Elephant Magazine, 2019
Lydia Blakeley was born in 1980 in Bracknell, Berkshire (UK), she currently lives and works in North Yorkshire. She received her MFA Fine Art at Goldsmiths (2017-2019) and a BA(Hons) in Fine Art from Leeds College of Art (2013-2016).
Using paint to reflect the present, which is saturated with snapshots of hyper-reality, Blakeley uses the medium as a response to popular culture. Through the painting process, she attempts to introduce new layers of meaning, develop narratives, and present alternative interpretations of our actuality. The painting process is essential for capturing the every day, suspending the image in time, for the viewers' contemplation. Aided through technologies, accumulating, and redistributing signs by negotiating multiple temporalities, reflecting the globalised world. The materiality of her paintings reinforces the permanence of the image within an increasingly dematerialized world.
EDUCATION
2017-2019 MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths
2013-2016 BA(Hons) Fine Art, Leeds College of Art
AWARDS
2020
The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Canada
The Minerva Prize, FBA Futures 2020, Mall Galleries, London
2018
The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, Canada
SOLO EXHIBTIONS
2020
Dog Show, Steve Turner Gallery, online
Classics, Niru Ratnam Gallery, London
National Velvet, Alessandro Albanese Gallery, Matera, Italy
Looks like you've reached the end, Vortic London Collective, Hannah Barry Gallery, online
Hospitality, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles
2019
Hellhole, Curator's Choice, Leeds Arts University Hellhole. Plaza Plaza, London
2018
You're Doing Amazing, Sweetie, The Boardroom, Blenheim Walk, Leeds Arts University, UK
2017
Leisure, Vernon Street Gallery, Leeds College of Art, UK
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020
#36 Annual Open Exhibition, Southwark Park Galleries, Online After Image. MAMOTH, London
Everyday Heroes, Southbank Centre, London
Begin Again, GUTS Gallery, online
Suture, Niru Ratnam Gallery, London
21st Figure, BC Projects, online
Stäying Sane, Berntson Bhattacharjee Gallery, Skanör, Sweden Drawn Together. UNIT London, online
When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, online
Office Space, Is This It?, online
Crowd, Hannah Barry Gallery, London
FBA Futures 2020, Mall Galleries, London
2019
Pets, TOMA Project Space, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK
When Species Meet, Transition Two Gallery, London Fanspeak. Castlefield Galley, Manchester, UK
Full English, Platform, Southwark, London
Ultra: Art for the Women's World Cup, J.Hammond Projects, London
Goldsmiths MFA Degree Show, Goldsmiths, London
Plucky Pony Makes Break For Freedom, SET, Bermondsey, London
Mission To Touch The Sun: SunBurnt, Paradise Works, Salford, Manchester, UK
Utopia Through Nostalgia, The Koppel Project Hive, London
2018
Young British Painters, Arthill Gallery, London
#34 Annual Open Exhibition, CGP Gallery, London
GoldX, DeptfordX, London
Mission to Touch the Sun, Enclave, London
Getting Away!, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK
For I'm not among the waders: The story of Zebedee, Post_Institute, London
Getting Away!, ArthouSE1, London
Goldsmiths MFA InterimShow, Goldsmiths, London
Duty Free. Is This It?, ChelseaCollege of Arts, UAL, London Via... Brockley, London
2017
Sydenham Arts, Sydenham, London
Fair Exchange, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
2016
Seven Days at LS6, LS6 cafe, Leeds, UK
Northern Graduates 2016, Curwen Gallery, London
Free Range, Old Truman Brewery, London
Departures, Leeds College of Art, Leeds, UK
A Happy Medium, Headingley, Leeds, UK
2015
I'll Show You Mine, Leon Collective HQ, Leeds Ephemera. Studio 24, Leeds, UK