Angela Smith
Painting and drawing are central to my practice and allow me to explore the space between fact and fiction. I’m interested in the possibilities of narrative and invoking atmosphere and emotion. My paintings are rarely portraits but rather a layering of emotion, experience and imaginings. Books, films and photography often inform my work but the process of painting is what I am most at ease with. I see making paintings as a form of story telling and making sense of something deep inside, whilst hopefully creating something that others find pleasure and meaning from.
Born in Liverpool in 1972, Angela spent her childhood exploring imaginative worlds of make-believe and books. She firmly believes that her childhood reading not only shaped her personality but it has influenced her painting and her need to tell stories. Books, such as the wardrobe in "The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe", were a doorway into other worlds.
She studied English Literature and Politics at university in Manchester and then moved to London to work in Investment Banking. It was in a local cafe in Kings Cross, listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons, that she recalls suddenly knowing she wanted to be an artist. Angela went on to study painting at Wimbledon School of Art and since graduating has exhibited in solo and group shows in London and South East England. Her work has been bought by collectors in the UK, Europe and the U.S.
Angela currently works and lives in South West London.
EDUCATION:
BA(Hons) Fine Art, Wimbledon School of Art, London, 2001 - 2004
HNC Fine Art, Kensington and Chelsea College, London 2001
Alternative Foundation in Fine Art, The Slade School of Art, UCL, 2000
BA(Hons)English with Politics, Manchester Metropolitan University, 1992 – 1995
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
Clyde & Co (Guildford Arts), group exhibition, February 2018
The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, October 2011
Art with a Heart, Hillside Church, Wimbledon, February 2010
Art for Youth, Mall Galleries, London, October 2008
Summer Exhibition, Clarion Gallery, London, August 2007
Flock, Group Exhibition, GX Gallery, London, August 2007
Summer Exhibition, Clarion Gallery, London, August 2006
Child, Solo Exhibition, Clarion Gallery, London, March 2006
CHASE Contemporary Art Exhibition, Henry Moore Galleries, The Royal College of Art, London, November 2005
Three-Sixteen, Group Exhibition, Candid Arts Trust, London, April 2005
Take 04, Degree Show, Wimbledon School of Art, London, June 2004
Group Exhibition, Corporate Edge, London, June 2003
The Guildford Arts Group Exhibition, Clyde and Co., Guildford, April 2002 and July 2002
Group Exhibition, ING BHF-Bank, December 2001 and June 2002
Seascapes, Two-person Exhibition, Portobello Gold, London, April 2000
COLLECTIONS:
ING BHF-Bank London
AWARDS:
Fine Art Trade Guild, Up and Coming New Artist 2008, shortlisted