About
Louisa Chambers most recent paintings feature a simple paper folded form, that can be manipulated into a temporary structure (three dimensional) and translated back into a flat two-dimensional space – a painting. Through close observation, she has become intrigued by the patterned surfaces and the juxtaposition of colour and geometry on the form. The colours divert from the original paper models and instead are intuitively selected during the painting process. These forms are recorded from set ups becoming an abstracted still life, often from a frontal view perspective inviting the viewer to imagine the objects from behind.
The patterns are appropriated motifs deriving from architectural sources such as walls, fences, floors or rooftops. These found motifs are memorised from daily encounters such as from walks made locally or further afield.
Pattern and decoration have been key areas of interest in her recent enquiries, particularly modernist Latin American and European abstraction and late 20th Century art and design movements.
Since graduating from an MA in Painting at the RCA (2007) Louisa Chambers has had a studio-based Painting practice. She has exhibited both nationally and internationally, has worked on various public site-specific commissions and has been a finalist in competitions such as: Beep 2020, Elysium Gallery (Swansea 2020), Paint, PS Mirabel (Manchester, 2019) Nottingham Castle Open 2015, Nottingham Castle Museum (Purchase Prize Winner, Nottingham 2015), Creekside Open, APT Gallery (London 2015) and John Moores 25 at the Walker Art Gallery in (Liverpool 2008).
Recent and forthcoming exhibitions include: Criss-Cross (solo), Angear Visitor Centre, Lakeside Arts Centre (Nottingham, 2021), Our Still Lives Posed, PAPER and Axel Obiger (Berlin, 2020), Expanded Studio Project, PS2 and Primary (Belfast and Nottingham, 2019), Enough is Definitely Enough, General Practice (Manchester, 2020 and Lincoln, 2019), Pacific Breeze, White Conduit Projects (London 2018) and Manuscript – Letter Home, China Academy of Arts Museum, (Hangzhou, China 2018- on going travelling exhibition throughout China 2018-19), Razzle Dazzle, Transition Gallery (London 2016), Now for Tomorrow II, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery (Nottingham 2016).
Louisa is a Senior Lecturer in Fine Art at Nottingham Trent University, Resident Artist at Primary in Nottingham and 1/3 of Paint Party.
CV
Education
2012 PGCE (Post Compulsory Education), Institute of Education, UCL
2007 MA Painting, Royal College of Art, London
2005 BA (Hons) Fine Art (First Class Honours), UCA, Farnham
2002 BTEC Diploma in Art and Design: (Distinction), UCA, Farnham
Selected Exhibitions
2022 Telling Tales, Platforms Project 2022, Athens, Greece (forthcoming October 2022)
2022 Nothing Has Changed, Everything Has Changed, Beep Painting Biennial 2022, elysium gallery, Swansea (forthcoming July 2022)
2022 Colour-flex, Terrace Gallery, London (forthcoming July 2022)
2022 In The Flat Field, 50MV, Liverpool (forthcoming June 2022)
2022 Refresh (paintParty), One Thoresby Street, Nottingham
2022 On Paper, PAPER Gallery (Curated by Matthew Macaulay), Manchester
2021 Thru’ These Architects Eyes, Manchester Contemporary (with PAPER Gallery), Manchester
2021 Criss-Cross, Angear Visitor Centre, Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham
2021 THIS YEAR’S MODEL, Studio 1.1, London
2020 Beep 2020, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
2020 Enough is Definitely Enough, Pineapple Black, Middlesborough
2020 Still Life, Axel Obiger (affiliated with PAPER Gallery), Berlin, Germany
2020 Enough is Definitely Enough, Oceans Apart, Salford
2019 Expanded Studio Project, PS2 and Primary, Belfast and Nottingham
2019 Paint, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2019 Enough is Definitely Enough, General Practice, Lincoln
2019 Pacific Breeze, White Conduit Projects, London
2018 Twice as Nice, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2018 Transcendence, The Cello Factory, London
2017 Manuscript – Letter Home, China Academy of Arts Museum, Hangzhou, China
2017 Veneer, Wirksworth Festival, Wirksworth, Derbyshire (co-curated exhibition)
2017 A Table of Elements, Greystone Industries, Wickham Market, Suffolk
2017 Flag Commission, The Usher Gallery, Lincoln
2017 Line and Fold, PAPER Gallery, Manchester and CAMPBASEL Revisted, A-Space, Basel
2017 Precision of Thought, SE9 Container Gallery, London
2017 Only Yours Dear, Gallery No.1, Derbyshire (Solo)
2016 Razzle Dazzle, Transition Gallery, London
2016 New Room, Classroom, Coventry
2016 Paper Cuts, Transition Gallery, London (On going project by Kristian Day)
2016 Drawn For Something Else, Rogue Project Space, Manchester
2016 Wham, Transition Gallery, The Manchester Contemporary, Manchester
2016 Wish You Were Here, Estuary Festival 2016, Metal, Southend-on-Sea, Essex
2016 BAD SIGNS/Adjustments, Atkinsons-Kram Gallery, London
2016 Now For Tomorrow II, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham
2016 Razzle: All that Jazz – If a Pair is two, what is three? The Harley Gallery, Nottinghamshire
2015 Nottingham Castle Open 2015, Nottingham Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham
2016 Geometry: Wonky or Otherwise, Déda, Derby
2015 Creekside Open 2015, Selected by Richard Deacon, APT Gallery, London
2015 Autocatalytic Future Games, no format Gallery, London
2015 In Miniature, Small Collections Room, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham
2015 (detail), The Usher Gallery, Lincoln
2014 Pareidolia, Pluspace, Coventry
2014 (detail), Transition Gallery, London and H Project Space, Bangkok, Thailand
2014 Water Colour Revolution, Saatchi Gallery, London
2014 About Painting, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
2014 Paint Like You Mean It, Interview Room 11, Edinburgh
2013 Stereoscope, Mrs Rick’s Cupboard, Primary, Nottingham (Solo)
2013 Rotation, New Court Gallery, Repton, Derby (Solo)
2013 Discernible, Zeitgeist Art Projects, ASC Project Space, London
2012 Flatland, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College London curated research project
2012 Needle’s Eye, BayArt Gallery, Cardiff
2012 Dangerous Curves Ahead, Bermondsey Project Space, London
2012 Needle’s Eye, Transition Gallery, London
2011 Contemporary Perspectives on Water Colour, Mall Galleries, London
2009 Fault Line, The Nunnery, London
2009 Skyscrapers under the Sea, Madame Lillies, London
2009 Drawing(s) with Dolphins, Crimes Town Gallery, London
2008 John Moores 25, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Awards / Competitions
2020 Beep Painting Prize 2020, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
2019 Paint, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2016 Spectrum, PS Mirabel, Manchester
2015 Nottingham Castle Open 2015 (Purchase Prize)
2014 Creekside Open, APT Gallery, London
2014 Paint Like You Mean It, Interview Room 11, Edinburgh
2013 Crash Open, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London
2012 ZAP Open 2012, Zeitgeist Art Projects, London
2012 Bow Arts Open, Bermondsey Project Space, London
2010 Salon Arts Prize 2010, Matt Roberts Arts Foundation
2009 Fringe MK, Annual Painting Prize
2009 Salon Arts Prize 2009, Matt Arts Foundation
2008 John Moores 25 Contemporary Painting Prize
Press / Publications
2018 Manuscript – Art Letter Home, China Academy of Arts Museum, Hangzhou, CAA Press
2017 The Times, 23rd January 2017, Artists are schools' latest big draw by Greg Hurst
2016 Interview Feature: Floorr Magazine, Issue 1, January 2016
2014 (detail), Transition Editions
2014 About Painting, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, The Skinny by Sacha Waldron
2012 Paint, Garageland 13, Are Louisa Chambers' paintings abstract? Ruth Solomons
2009 Migration, Garageland 9, Transition Editions
2009 Fringe MK Annual Painting Prize 2009, Exhibition Catalogue
2009 Fault Line, Sarah Ellson, Exhibition Catalogue Bow Arts
2008 John Moores 25 Contemporary Painting Prize, Exhibition Catalogue