Kate Wilson ARWS lives and works in South London, and paints the familiar objects of her daily landscape. In this exhibition, she pays particular attention to things that are overlooked, thrown away or abandoned. She writes

“Rubbish - packaging thrown into bins and plastic trampled into the ground - is ugly, undesirable. We try to get rid of it, rather than see potential. I regularly notice and engage with rubbish thrown on the street. I photograph the things people throw away and pick up coffee lids, juice and water bottle tops, paper bags, and plastic containers, taking them back to my studio to draw. When looked at intently, drawn and painted, these discarded objects reveal themselves. They have value”.

Kate studied at Winchester School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools. She has recently been elected an associate member of the Royal Watercolour Society. She is a former head of painting, drawing and art history at Morley College London and the author of Drawing and Painting - Materials and Techniques for Contemporary Artists published by Thames and Hudson 2015/2023).

Awards:

2025   Winsor and Newton Prize RWS Bankside Galleries
             NEAC Climate Emergency Prize, Shortlist, Mall Galleries
             Jackson’s Painting Prize, Shortlist
2023   Maire Ragnild Hollingsworth prize for Oil Painting, RA Summer Exhibition
             Parker Harris Prize, Well’s Contemporary, Well’s Cathedral
2022   Jackson’s Painting Prize, Shortlist
2021   Holly Bush Painting Prize for Women Artists, Shortlist
1991    Royal Academy Gold medal
             Edward Scott Travelling Scholarship
             Andre de Segonzac Travelling Scholarship
1990    Painter-Stainers’ Award
1988    National Portrait Award, Shortlist, National Galleries
1986    Hampshire Travel Award
1984    Bateson Mason Prize for Drawing