EDUCATION
MA Drawing, 2018 | UAL Wimbledon College of Art
(UAL) Art and Design Foundation, 2015 | City Literary Institute
BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice, 1994 | University of Westminster
MA Drawing, 2018 | UAL Wimbledon College of Art
(UAL) Art and Design Foundation, 2015 | City Literary Institute
BA (Hons) Contemporary Media Practice, 1994 | University of Westminster
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
Discovering Voices, ICA Cultural Leadership Programme, 2008 | Institute of Contemporary Art
Discovering Voices, ICA Cultural Leadership Programme, 2008 | Institute of Contemporary Art
GROUP SHOWS 2023:
Spirit in the Land, Nasher Museum at Duke University, USA
16 February – 09 July, 2023
Spirit in the Land is a contemporary art exhibition that examines today’s urgent ecological concerns from a cultural perspective, demonstrating how intricately our identities and natural environments are intertwined. Through their artwork, thirty artists show us how rooted in the earth our most cherished cultural traditions are, how our relationship to land and water shapes us as individuals and communities.
Spirit in the Land, Nasher Museum at Duke University, USA
16 February – 09 July, 2023
Spirit in the Land is a contemporary art exhibition that examines today’s urgent ecological concerns from a cultural perspective, demonstrating how intricately our identities and natural environments are intertwined. Through their artwork, thirty artists show us how rooted in the earth our most cherished cultural traditions are, how our relationship to land and water shapes us as individuals and communities.
Artists: Terry Adkins, Firelei Báez, Radcliffe Bailey, Rina Banerjee, Christi Belcourt, María Berrío, Mel Chin, Andrea Chung, Sonya Clark, Maia Cruz Palileo, Annalee Davis, Tamika Galanis, Allison Janae Hamilton, Barkley L. Hendricks, Alexa Kleinbard, Hung Liu, Hew Locke, Meryl McMaster, Wangechi Mutu, Dario Robleto, Jim Roche, Kathleen Ryan, Sheldon Scott, Renée Stout, Monique Verdin, Stacy Lynn Waddell, Charmaine Watkiss, Marie Watt, Carrie Mae Weems, Peter Williams.
Read more here
O Quilombismo. Of Resisting and Insisting. Of Flight as Flight. Of Other Democratic Egalitarian Political Philosophies.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, Germany
2 June - 31 August 2023
Curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Cosmin Costinas, Paz Guevara, Marie Hélène Pereira, Carlos Maria Romero
Read more here
O Quilombismo. Of Resisting and Insisting. Of Flight as Flight. Of Other Democratic Egalitarian Political Philosophies.
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, Germany
2 June - 31 August 2023
Curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Cosmin Costinas, Paz Guevara, Marie Hélène Pereira, Carlos Maria Romero
Read more here
Liverpool Biennial
10 June - 17 September 2023
The 12th edition of Liverpool Biennial ‘uMoya: The sacred Return of Lost Things’ addresses the history and temperament of the city of Liverpool and is a call for ancestral and indigenous forms of knowledge, wisdom and healing. In the isiZulu language, ‘uMoya’ means spirit, breath, air, climate and wind.
10 June - 17 September 2023
The 12th edition of Liverpool Biennial ‘uMoya: The sacred Return of Lost Things’ addresses the history and temperament of the city of Liverpool and is a call for ancestral and indigenous forms of knowledge, wisdom and healing. In the isiZulu language, ‘uMoya’ means spirit, breath, air, climate and wind.
Artists:
Albert Ibokwe Khoza, Antonio Obá, Belinda Kazeem- Kamiński, Benoît Piéron, Binta Diaw, Brook Andrew, Charmaine Watkiss, David Aguacheiro, Eleng Luluan, Fátima Rodrigo Gonzales, Francis Offman, Gala Porras-Kim, Isa do Rosário, Julien Creuzet, Katy’taya Catitu Tayassu, Kent Chan, Lorin Sookool, Lungiswa Gqunta, Melanie Manchot, Nicholas Galanin, Nolan Oswald Dennis, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum, Rahima Gambo, Rahmi Hamzi, Raisa Kabir, Ranti Bam, Rudy Loewe, Sandra Suubi, Sepideh Rahaa, Shannon Alonzo, Torkwase Dyson, Unmute Dance Company
Read more here
Read more here
PAST SOLO SHOWS:
2022 - Charmaine Watkiss: The Wisdom Tree | Leeds Art Gallery, The Headrow, Leeds
2021 - The Seed Keepers | Cromwell Place, London
2022 - Charmaine Watkiss: The Wisdom Tree | Leeds Art Gallery, The Headrow, Leeds
2021 - The Seed Keepers | Cromwell Place, London
SELECT GROUP SHOWS:
2022 - Drawing Attention: emerging British Artists | British Museum, London
2022 - The Company She Keeps | Tiwani Contemporary, Lagos, Nigeria
2022 - Drawing Attention: emerging British Artists | British Museum, London
2022 - The Company She Keeps | Tiwani Contemporary, Lagos, Nigeria
2021 - RA Summer Exhibition | 6 Burlington Gardens, London
2021 - To The Edge of Time | KU Leuven Libraries, Leuven, Belgium
2021 - Breakfast Under the Tree - Curated by Russel Tovey | Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate
2021 - Drawing Biennial 2021 | Drawing Room, 1-27 Rodney Place, London SE17 1PP
2020 - The Abstract Truth of Things | Tiwani Contemporary Gallery, London W1W 8PB
2020 - Me, Myself and I | Collyer Bristow Gallery, London WC1R 4TF
2020 - Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | The Gallery, De Montford University, Leicester
2020 - Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | 66 Orchard Place, London E14 OJY
2019 - Thinking Graphite | Drawing Projects UK, 10 Stallard Street, Wiltshire, BA14
2019 - Figure This! | Thames Side Studios Gallery, Woolwich, London SE18 5NR
2019 - Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire
2019 - Out of Darkness | St John on Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA
2018 - Wimbledon College of Art MA Degree Show | Merton Hall, Wimbledon, SW19 3QA
2018 - Against Static (Curated by Tania Kovats) | Wimbledon Space, Wimbledon, SW19 3QA
2018 - Lumen Residency Exhibition | Crypt Gallery, Euston Rd, London NW1 2BA
2017 - New Perspectives | The Centre for Recent Drawing, London N1 1SB
2017 - She Says | Nolia's Gallery, 60 Great Suffolk St, Bankside, London SE1 0B
2017 - Same Difference | The ArtSpace, Cass Art 103 Clarence St, Kingston upon Thames KT1
2017 - East Wing Collective Group Show | Menier Gallery 51 Southwark St, London SE1 1RU
2016 - Art At The Bridge #7 | Tower Bridge Engine Rooms, Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1
COLLECTIONS
The British Museum, London, UK
Leeds Art Gallery, UK
The Government Art Collection, UK
Cartwright Hall Museum, Bradford, UK
Abbot Hall Museum, Kendal, UK
Nasher Museum at Duke University USA
International private collections
RESIDENCIES
Spring 2022 edition at Launch Pad LaB residency at La Boissière South West France. I was in residence with Laura Pold, we were co-selected by Nathan Ladd, Curator at Tate, with a focus on practices that address ecology and the natural environment. (I have posted a film about the residency in the MEDIA section of this website)
Click here to find out about Launch Pad
Lumen Residency, Atina, Italy, 3 - 17 August 2017
AWARDS
Shortlisted awardee 198 Gallery Women of Colour Award, 2020
Shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, 2019
WRITING
Carving out meaning - I wrote an article for British Museum Spring / Summer '22 magazine about an object in their collection, you can read it here
PUBLICATIONS
Spirit in the Land, 2023; Trevor Schoonmaker - Duke University Press ISBN: 9780938989455
Big Bang Imagining The Universe, 2021, Hannibal Books ISBN: 9789463887878
Vitamin D3: Today's Best in Contemporary Drawing, 2021, Phaidon ISBN: 9781838661694
Me Myself and I Catalogue, 2020, Collyer Bristow Gallery - Read here
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Catalogue, 2019, Editied by Anita Taylor ISBN 978-1-9999936-1-0
Figure This! Exhibition Catalogue, Edited by Elinca Cerla, ISBN 978-1697367522
Ethics: Preserving Voices Vulnerable to Erasure, Shades of Noir, 2018
ARTICLES
Review of The Wisdom Tree, written by The Double Negative Magazine, Read here
Artlyst interview of the month written by Paul Carey-Kent, Read here.
Contemporary Art Society article about my acquisition for Abbot Hall, Read Here
The Seed Keepers, commissioned article by Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Read here
Frieze - Charmaine Watkiss on reconstructing the image of black womanhood, Read here
Elephant Magazine pick of October '21 essential artists, Read here
Phaidon Article - Charmaine Watkiss Why I Draw, Read here
Eye On Art Review The Abstract Truth of Things, Read here
An exploration of the Abstract Truth of Things, Aurella Yussuf - Read here
Frieze review, The Abstract Truth of Things, Aida Amoako - Read here
IN CONVERSATION (online)
TALK ART PODCAST - With Russell Tovey and Robert Diament - Listen here
THE SHOWROOM PRESENTS IN.FLO.RES.CENCE - Andrew Pierre Hart, Charmaine Watkiss, Nduduzo Makhathini & Katherine Finerty - Watch here
COLLYER BRISTOW GALLERY - ME, MYSELF AND I - exhibition tour and talk with curator Rosalind Davis, watch here
TALKS AND SEMINARS
2023 - Circumnavigation: Drawing Symposium | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
2022 - Charmaine Watkiss & Rommi Smith in conversation | Leeds Art Gallery
2022 - Panelist - Art at the Intersection: Culture, Identity, Mental Health | National Gallery, London
2019 - Figure This! - Panel discussion around socio political ideas embodied in figurative work
2019 - Speaker at Why Drawing Matters conference, Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire.
2018 - I Am the Person I Know Best: Conversations Within Black Women's Art (Artist talk) |
The V&A Museum, London - Click here for more information.
2017 - An Evening with John Blanke (Artist talk) | The British Library, Euston Road, London
2017 - Alev Lenz Studio: Panel Discussion & Workshop (Panel discussion exploring BME representation in the creative industries) | Alev Lenz Studio, London
2021 - To The Edge of Time | KU Leuven Libraries, Leuven, Belgium
2021 - Breakfast Under the Tree - Curated by Russel Tovey | Carl Freedman Gallery, Margate
2021 - Drawing Biennial 2021 | Drawing Room, 1-27 Rodney Place, London SE17 1PP
2020 - The Abstract Truth of Things | Tiwani Contemporary Gallery, London W1W 8PB
2020 - Me, Myself and I | Collyer Bristow Gallery, London WC1R 4TF
2020 - Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | The Gallery, De Montford University, Leicester
2020 - Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | 66 Orchard Place, London E14 OJY
2019 - Thinking Graphite | Drawing Projects UK, 10 Stallard Street, Wiltshire, BA14
2019 - Figure This! | Thames Side Studios Gallery, Woolwich, London SE18 5NR
2019 - Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire
2019 - Out of Darkness | St John on Bethnal Green, Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9PA
2018 - Wimbledon College of Art MA Degree Show | Merton Hall, Wimbledon, SW19 3QA
2018 - Against Static (Curated by Tania Kovats) | Wimbledon Space, Wimbledon, SW19 3QA
2018 - Lumen Residency Exhibition | Crypt Gallery, Euston Rd, London NW1 2BA
2017 - New Perspectives | The Centre for Recent Drawing, London N1 1SB
2017 - She Says | Nolia's Gallery, 60 Great Suffolk St, Bankside, London SE1 0B
2017 - Same Difference | The ArtSpace, Cass Art 103 Clarence St, Kingston upon Thames KT1
2017 - East Wing Collective Group Show | Menier Gallery 51 Southwark St, London SE1 1RU
2016 - Art At The Bridge #7 | Tower Bridge Engine Rooms, Tower Bridge Road, London, SE1
COLLECTIONS
The British Museum, London, UK
Leeds Art Gallery, UK
The Government Art Collection, UK
Cartwright Hall Museum, Bradford, UK
Abbot Hall Museum, Kendal, UK
Nasher Museum at Duke University USA
International private collections
RESIDENCIES
Spring 2022 edition at Launch Pad LaB residency at La Boissière South West France. I was in residence with Laura Pold, we were co-selected by Nathan Ladd, Curator at Tate, with a focus on practices that address ecology and the natural environment. (I have posted a film about the residency in the MEDIA section of this website)
Click here to find out about Launch Pad
Lumen Residency, Atina, Italy, 3 - 17 August 2017
AWARDS
Shortlisted awardee 198 Gallery Women of Colour Award, 2020
Shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, 2019
WRITING
Carving out meaning - I wrote an article for British Museum Spring / Summer '22 magazine about an object in their collection, you can read it here
PUBLICATIONS
Spirit in the Land, 2023; Trevor Schoonmaker - Duke University Press ISBN: 9780938989455
Big Bang Imagining The Universe, 2021, Hannibal Books ISBN: 9789463887878
Vitamin D3: Today's Best in Contemporary Drawing, 2021, Phaidon ISBN: 9781838661694
Me Myself and I Catalogue, 2020, Collyer Bristow Gallery - Read here
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize Catalogue, 2019, Editied by Anita Taylor ISBN 978-1-9999936-1-0
Figure This! Exhibition Catalogue, Edited by Elinca Cerla, ISBN 978-1697367522
Ethics: Preserving Voices Vulnerable to Erasure, Shades of Noir, 2018
ARTICLES
Review of The Wisdom Tree, written by The Double Negative Magazine, Read here
Artlyst interview of the month written by Paul Carey-Kent, Read here.
Contemporary Art Society article about my acquisition for Abbot Hall, Read Here
The Seed Keepers, commissioned article by Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Read here
Frieze - Charmaine Watkiss on reconstructing the image of black womanhood, Read here
Elephant Magazine pick of October '21 essential artists, Read here
Phaidon Article - Charmaine Watkiss Why I Draw, Read here
Eye On Art Review The Abstract Truth of Things, Read here
An exploration of the Abstract Truth of Things, Aurella Yussuf - Read here
Frieze review, The Abstract Truth of Things, Aida Amoako - Read here
IN CONVERSATION (online)
TALK ART PODCAST - With Russell Tovey and Robert Diament - Listen here
THE SHOWROOM PRESENTS IN.FLO.RES.CENCE - Andrew Pierre Hart, Charmaine Watkiss, Nduduzo Makhathini & Katherine Finerty - Watch here
COLLYER BRISTOW GALLERY - ME, MYSELF AND I - exhibition tour and talk with curator Rosalind Davis, watch here
TALKS AND SEMINARS
2023 - Circumnavigation: Drawing Symposium | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich
2022 - Charmaine Watkiss & Rommi Smith in conversation | Leeds Art Gallery
2022 - Panelist - Art at the Intersection: Culture, Identity, Mental Health | National Gallery, London
2019 - Figure This! - Panel discussion around socio political ideas embodied in figurative work
2019 - Speaker at Why Drawing Matters conference, Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire.
2018 - I Am the Person I Know Best: Conversations Within Black Women's Art (Artist talk) |
The V&A Museum, London - Click here for more information.
2017 - An Evening with John Blanke (Artist talk) | The British Library, Euston Road, London
2017 - Alev Lenz Studio: Panel Discussion & Workshop (Panel discussion exploring BME representation in the creative industries) | Alev Lenz Studio, London