Sara Lee

“Sara Lee walks and gathers, sometimes extensive coastal pathways. These are not journeys to be conquered and documented, they are space and time inhabited. The ‘being in’ the landscapes a conduit of thought and experience.”
— Meryl AinslieSara Lee predominantly works with drawing and print. Her practice involves working from site-specific landscapes, followed by extended studio-based work. Her images are a response to the ephemeral nature of the land and our profound relationship with it, especially at this time of ominous environmental change.Born in Wales, Sara lives and works in London. She studied at Ravensbourne and Central Schools of Art. She exhibits widely and her work is held in public and private collections internationally, including Pallant House Gallery, Tama Collection, Japan and the Victoria & Albert Museum.Solo/key exhibitions2019 Beckoning Lines, Rabley Gallery2016 Isola (with Pru Ainslie & Meryl Setchell Ainslie), Rabley Drawing Centre2014 Ley of the Land, Rabley Drawing Centre2012 Peninsula, Stoneman Gallery, Penzance2009 Confluence (with Eileen Cooper, Caroline Isgar, Fred Gatley, Annie Turner & Sarah Radstone), APT Gallery, London & Stoneman Gallery, PenzanceSelected recent group exhibitions2022
Against the Grain — Contemporary Woodblock Prints — Royal Academy of Arts, London
London Original Print Fair with Rabley Gallery London Art Fair with Rabley Gallery 2014-2022
2021
Hockney to Himid — 60 years of British Printmaking, Pallant House Gallery
Woolwich Print Fair with Rabley Gallery, London
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, 2017-2021
Awagami Print Exhibition, Japan
London Original Print Fair with Rabley Gallery (online)
RWA Open, Bristol
London Art Fair with Rabley Gallery (online)
2020
ING Discerning Eye — Invited by David Remfry (online)
Woolwich Print Fair, London (online)
Liz May — A Personal Perspective — APT Gallery, London
IFPDA Print Fair, New York with Rabley Gallery (online)
London Original Print Fair with Rabley Gallery (online)
Great Print Exhibition, Rheged, Cumbria2019
Studio Stories, with Eileen Cooper RA and Julia Peintner, Boecho Gallery, LondonWoolwich Print Fair, London, 2018-19
Wales Contemporary, Milford Haven and London
Sunday Times Watercolour Competition, London, Trowbridge and Guildford
Westmoreland Landscape Prize, Cumbria
Wells Contemporary, Wells Cathedral
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, 2017-19
London Original Print Fair with Rabley Gallery, 2016-19
Print Matters, Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Art & Design, Wroclaw, Poland
2018
Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, (formerly Jerwood Drawing Prize), London and 3 other venues
Flourish Award, WYPW, Yorkshire; PR1, Preston; Spike Island, Bristol
Japan, WYPW, Mirfield, YorkshireBainbridge Open, Turps Gallery, London
House, RDS, Dublin with Stoney Road Press
2017
IFPDA, Ink, Art Miami with Rabley Contemporary, USA 2015-17Duo Rabley Contemporary, London & MarlboroughCut – Contemporary Woodcut, Glasgow Print Studio, Glasgow26 Eames Gallery, LondonTama Collection, Touring Exhibition, Sapporo, JapanDiscovering Samuel Palmer, Eames Gallery, London2016
Isola with Pru Ainslie & Meryl Setchell Ainslie, Rabley Drawing CentreTowards Night (curated by Tom Hammick), Towner Art Gallery, EastbourneSurface Cutting, Royal Academy of Arts, LondonNeo Print Prize, BoltonWest Dean College, Chichester2015
Eames Gallery, LondonNational Original Print Exhibition, Bankside, LondonThe Sketchbook Today, Avenue Gallery, University of Northampton (Tate Albums feature)Arthub Open, London (Prizewinner)Tokyo Triennial, Tama, TokyoPages in Siglufjörður, Herhúsið, IcelandDrawing 10, London Art Fair with Rabley Contemporary
2014
Lustre, Rabley Drawing Centre, LondonTrace – Artists In Search of a Landscape – APT Gallery, LondonNeo Print Prize, BoltonPushing Print 5 Yrs On, Pie Factory, MargateRoyal Academy Summer Exhibition 2007-2014The London Print Fair with Rabley Contemporary & Stoney Road PressEscape, Printroom. London
2013
Offline Art Fair with Works on Paper, LondonPushing Print (Prizewinner - Bainbridge Prize), Margate
Brook Gallery, Budleigh Salterton, DevonExperiments with Photography, PhotoIreland, Stoney Road, DublinContemporary Print, Bainbridge Open, LondonThe London Print Fair with Stoney Road Press, DublinThe Biscuit Factory, Newcastle
2012
Multiplied with Rabley Contemporary, London 2012-2015Bite, Mall Galleries, London 2011-2012British Printmaking, Kyoto, JapanDrawn To Nature, Rabley Drawing Centre, MarlboroughBrook Gallery, Budleigh SaltertonThe Landscape of Memory, No Format Gallery, London
2011
Print Now, Bearspace, LondonDiscerning Eye, Mall Galleries, LondonBainbridge Open, LondonPrint, Stoneman Gallery, PenzanceJapanese Print Show, Brook Gallery, Dorset
2010
Stoneman Gallery, PenzanceOriginals, Mall Galleries, London. (Prizewinner)CollectionsAwards- Pallant House Gallery, UK- Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK- United Therapeutics Collection, USA- Evelina Collection, Guys & St Thomas’, UK- The Otter Collection, University of Chichester, UK- Modern Art Collection, Swindon Museum & Art Gallery, UK- Tama University Collection, Tokyo, Japan- Golder Thompson Collection, UK - Sunday Times Watercolour Prize shortlist, 2019- Flourish Award shortlist, 2018- Prizewinner – Arthub, 2015- Bainbridge Prize – Pushing Print, 2013- Intaglio Printmaker Award – Originals, 2010Publications- Folio 22 — published by Rabley Gallery, 2022
- Hockney to Himid — 60 years of British Printmaking — Louise Weller, catalogue Pallant House Gallery, 2021
- New Boundaries & Horizons — Rabley Gallery Feature (online), June 2020
- Guardian ‘5 of the best’ for Beckoning Lines solo show, 2019- Towards Night – Towner Gallery — catalogue, 2016- Francesca J Goodwin, review of Ley of the Land publication, Printmaking Today, 2016- Ley of the Land — publication of Rabley Residency work, 2016- At Every Turn — contribution to Eileen Cooper: Hide and Seek, 2015- Ley of the Land — text to accompany residency and exhibition, 2014- Sketch — catalogue contribution, 2013- Glossary for Contemporary Art in Print, Paragon Press, 2012- Peninsula — publication to accompany The Peninsula Project, 2011-2012- Originals Catalogue feature, 2010- Art Quarterly article — The Art Fund Hugh Stoneman Archive, 2009- Catalogue essay for ‘Hugh Stoneman — Master Printer’ Tate St Ives, 2008- Glossary for ‘Hugh Stoneman — Master Printer’ Tate St Ives, 2008Residencies/projects- Hadsund, Denmark – Artist in Residence, 2020- Beckoning Lines Series, 2017-20- Publication with Stoney Road Press, Dublin, 2018 & 2013
- Seachange Series, 2017-19
- Rajasthan – Rabley Travel Residency, 2017- Isola Series, 2015-17- Morning Series, 2014-17- Venice – Rabley Travel Residency, 2015- Alayrac Artists Residency, 2014- Ley of the Land Series, 2013-16- Artist In Residence – Rabley Drawing Centre, 2013- The Peninsula Project, Stoneman Gallery, Cornwall, 2010-12- Brisons Veor Residency – Cornwall, 2011 & 2012- Moon Series, 2010-11- Confluence Series, 2009-10- Dance Down River – Grand Canyon, 2008-09- Coast, 2007-09For further information and/or a full CV please email me or contact Meryl Ainslie at Rabley Gallery.
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