British painter Georgina Clapham conspicuously engages with storytelling and theatricality in her
meticulous life sized figurative oil paintings. They operate between portraits and tableau, often
referring to Old Master compositions from the Early Modern European Period, principally of nobility
or mythological subjects; she combines historical symbolism with contemporary fashion and costume,
drawing the viewer into the present.
Finding balance between beauty and the grotesque, blending the
natural with artifice, she frequently documents the current generation of artists and designers in the UK
who are breaking through industry expectations and reintroducing outmoded, historical, or non gender
conforming dress in their everyday ensemble. She hopes to portray the psychological power of clothes
to transform and embody the inner world of her subjects.
She studied at City and Guilds of London Art School, 2013-14 and graduated from The Glasgow
School of Art in Painting and Printmaking, 2016, where her work has been purchased into the archive.
In 2015 she received the ‘Richard Ford Award Travel Scholarship’ to the Prado, Madrid. Her work has
been exhibited across the UK; selected shows including the Royal Scottish Academy, ‘RSA: New
Contemporaries,’ Edinburgh, The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts, Glasgow, and ‘The Aon
Community Art Award,’ London, where she was presented a bursary for ‘the most promising artist.’ In
2018 she held her debut solo show, ‘Mythologies and Metamorphoses,’ at Triumph Gallery, Moscow.
She also works on commissions, recently designing custom painted gloves in collaboration with
Fashion Designer Dilara Findikoglu for her SS2020 London Fashion week collection.
