Sarah Dwyer (b. 1974, Ireland) is an artist who lives and works in London. Drawing is at the heart of her process, often combined with painting, printmaking, and sculpture, resulting in reimaginings of the familiar through exuberant colour palettes and lively approaches to mark-making. Incorporating both figurative and abstract imagery, her dynamic compositions are the result of processing her own surroundings and the human day-to-day experience, in addition to an indulgence in our desire for play. Surfaces, in turn, retain traces of process and development within their own archive and present the viewer with a navigable visual history.
Dwyer earned a Masterβs in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London, in 2004 after an MFA from Staffordshire University in 2001. Her work has most recently been exhibited at Fabian Lang Gallery, Zurich; PiArtworks, London; Pigeon Park, Manor Place, London; in three solo shows at Josh Lilley Gallery, London; Hastings Contemporary, Hastings, UK; Hair & Nails Gallery, MN; Rochester Art Center, MN; Bloomberg Space, London, UK; Kyubidou Gallery, Tokyo, JP; Jane Lombard Gallery NY, NY; Fe McWilliam Gallery, NIR; Royal College of Art, London, UK; Saatchi Gallery, London, UK; The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK; Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin, IE.
Solo Exhibitions
2024 Brigitte Mulholland, Paris
2023 Off Kilter, Fabian Lang, Zurich
2022 Clatterβ¦..THUD, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2020 Black Chat Sew Rib, Unit1 Gallery Workshop, London
2019 Tink, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2015 Sunk Under, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2014 Whip-poor-will, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
2012 Falling into Positions, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
2011 Kevin Kavanagh Gallery, Dublin
2009 Hands Stuffing a Mattress, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
2007 Kyubidou Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
2007 The gallery @ Adventure Ecology, London, UK
2001 Brampton Museum, Newcastle under Lyme
Group
Exhibitions
2024 Iβm Not Afraid of Ghosts, The Venice Biennale, Palazzo Tiepolo Passi, Italy
2024 Creatures and Masks, Galerie Fabian Lang, Zurich
2024 Vernissage Partie 1 & Partie 2, Brigitte Mulholland, Paris
2023 POST-POST-WAR, OHSH Projects, London
2022 The Tyranny of Ambition, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Ireland
2022 Arts Council Collection: 60 Years, West Cork Arts Centre, Ireland
2022 Ode to Orlando, curated by Marcelle Joseph, PiArtworks, London
2022 π¦π§πππ ππππ/ππππ π¦π§πππ, OHSH Projects, London
2021 Gnomonics, an Orange and Other Drawings, Fabian Lang Zurich
2021 Drawn Together, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2021 A Generous Space, Hastings Contemporary, Hastings UK
2021 Dreamlands Part:2, OHSH Projects, London UK
2021 Eutopia, London UK
2021 Pigeon Park, Manor Place, London UK
2021 Platform Online, David Zwirner
2021 Reigen, Fabian Lang Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
2021 The Human Scale, Rochester Art Centre, Minnesota
2020 Invitational 1, Unit 1 Gallery Workshop, London
2020 Future,Future, Hair&Nails Gallery, Minneapolis, USA
2020 Penumbra, F.E McWilliam Museum, Armagh, Northern Ireland
2019 Stains on a Decade, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
2019 Minature Museum, Cobra Museum, The Netherlands
2018 Out There Out Where Exhibition, Boston Manor House, London
2018 Surface, JGM Gallery, London
2017 Notes from the White Book, Jo Chate & Sarah Dwyer, The Perfume Factory, London
2016 Summer Mix Summer Mix, Turps Banana Gallery, London
2016 John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
2016 βI shall stay stay the way I am because I do not give a damnβ¦β , Lombard Freid, NY
2014 New Order II : British Art Today, Saatchi Gallery, London
2011 Gifted, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
2011 Fade Away (Touring exhibition), Gallery North, Newcastle
2011 Fear, Lo and Behold, Salon de Vortex, Athens
2010 Fade Away, Transition Gallery, London
2010 Regarding Painting, Kevin Kavanagh, Dublin
2009 Daily Miracles, Josh Lilley Gallery, London
2007 Sarah Dwyer & Diego Sainz, Godoy, Madrid, Spain
2007 Art Futures, Bloomberg Space, London
2007 Art Car Boot Fair, Truman Brewery, London
2007 Notting Heaven, Sartorial Contemporary Art, London
2006 Saudade, Highbury Studios, London
2006 Shibboleth, Dilston Grove, London
2006 Action Field Kodra 2006 Kalamaria, Thessaloniki, Greece
2006 Heathen Threshold, Sartorial Contemporary Art, London
2006 People Like Us, No More Grey Gallery, London
2005 Salon, Hollow Contemporary, London
2005 Peculiar Encounters, Ec Artspace, London
2005 New London Kicks, WoosterProjects Gallery, NY
2004 Royal College of Art Final Show, London
2002 Sarah Dwyer & Cecile Armenault, The Potteries Museum, Stoke on Trent, UK
2002 Open, The New Art Gallery Walsall, UK
2001 Brampton Museum, Newcastle under Lyme, UK
Curated
Projects
2021 Eutopia - Reinventing Utopia Co-curated with Jo Chate
2018 Out There Out Where Outside, Boston Manor House
2017 Notes from the White Book, Jo Chate & Sarah Dwyer, The Perfume Factory, London
2006 Saudade, Highbury Studios
Co-curated with Laura Green includes 15 established and emerging artists,
with national and international contributions.
2005 Peculiar Encounters, ecArtspace
Co-curated with Laura Green β Exhibition including 23 Artists internationally.
Elsewhere Curator, The Chambers Gallery, Barbican, London.
Awards, Grants,
Fellowships,
Residencies
2016 John Moores Painting Prize shortlisted artist
2008 Old Possums Trust Artist Award
2007 Daiwa Foundation Travel Award
2006 Celeste Art Prize, 2006 Shortlisted Artist
2004 The Sheldon Bergh Award, The Royal College of Art
2004 The Basil Alkazzi Travel Award to New York, The Royal College of Art
2004 Jeremy Cubitt Prize for Most Promising Painter, The Royal College of Art Bi-Annual Award
2003 The Amlin Award for Painting, Interim Show, The Royal College of Art
2003 The Arthur Berry Fellowship, The New Vic Theatre
2020 Unit 1 Workshop Solo Residency London
2019 Elaine de Kooning Residency, USA
2016/2017 Artist in Residence - Hertfordshire University
2016 Artist in Residence - Ulster University Print Dept Summer