Biography
| EDUCATION | ||
| 1997-1998 | MA Fine Art | Chelsea College of Art and Design, London |
| 1993-1996 | BA (Hons) Fine Art | Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, London |
| ONE PERSON EXHIBITIONS | ||
| 2023 | SOLO Contemporary, British Art Fair | Saatchi Gallery, London |
| 2021 | All Aflame | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2019 | Volcano Lovers | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2017 | Haunts | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2015 | Several Small Fires | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2013 | Emma Bennett | Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff |
| 2012 | And, Afterwards | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2010 | Death & Co. | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2002 | Emma Bennett: New Paintings | Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art, London |
| SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS | ||
| 2023 | Beyond the Gaze – Reclaiming the Landscape (curated by Zavier Ellis) | Saatchi Gallery, London |
| 2021 | Thing Worlds | Art Spot Korin, Kyoto |
| 2019 | 10 Years | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2018 | Sammlung Reydan Weiss. "Ohne Etikett fühle ich mich freier..." Herzog Anton | Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig |
| 2018 | Context: Gallery Artists & Collaborators | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2017 | doing identity. Die Sammlung Reydan Weiss | Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum |
| 2017 | In Memoriam Francesca Lowe | Old Truman Brewery, London |
| 2017 | Nature Morte: Contemporary Still Life (curated by Michael Petry) | Guildhall Art Gallery, London |
| 2017 | Part III: Interiority (curated by Zavier Ellis) | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2016 | I Prefer Life: Reydan Weiss Collection | Wesserburg Museum of Modern Art, Bremen |
| 2016 | Flora (curated by Alex Boyd Jones) | Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Aberystwyth |
| 2016 | Black Paintings (curated by Heike Strelow) | Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt |
| 2016 | Flora (curated by Alex Boyd Jones) | Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw, Pwllheli |
| 2016 | Black Paintings (curated by Zavier Ellis) | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2015 | Flora (curated by Alex Boyd Jones) | Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Camarthen |
| 2015 | Flora (curated by Alex Boyd Jones) | Oriel Davies Gallery, Newtown |
| 2015 | Die English Kommen! New Painting from London (curated by Zavier Ellis) | Galerie Heike Strelow, Frankfurt |
| 2015 | Still Life - Ambiguous Practices (curated by Frances Woodley) | School of Art Gallery and Museum, Aberystwyth |
| 2015 | Collection of Small Paintings | The Contemporary London, London |
| 2014 | 100 Painters of Tomorrow: London | Beers Contemporary, London |
| 2014 | Saatchi’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2014 | Still Life: All Coherence Gone? (curated by Frances Woodley) | BayArt Gallery, Cardiff |
| 2014 | Fleursdumal | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2014 | Fleursdumal | Lion and Lamb Gallery, London |
| 2013 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2013 | Emma Bennett & Caro Suerkemper: Glazed | BRAUBACHfive, Frankfurt |
| 2012 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2012 | The Serpent’s Tail | Witzenhausen Gallery, Amsterdam |
| 2012 | Polemically Small (curated by Zavier Ellis & Edward Lucie-Smith) | Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham |
| 2012 | Kalliphilia | Vegas Gallery, London |
| 2012 | East Wing X | Courtauld Institute, London |
| 2011 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis, Simon Rumley & Rebecca Wilson) | B1, Victoria House, London |
| 2011 | Charlie Sierra Lima | CHARLIE SMITH LONDON, London |
| 2011 | Polemically Small (curated by Edward Lucie-Smith) | Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre, Klaipėda |
| 2011 | THE FUTURE CAN WAIT presents: Polemically Small (curated by Zavier Ellis, Edward Lucie-Smith, Max Presneill & Simon Rumley) | Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles |
| 2010 | New British Painting | Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary, Helsinki |
| 2009 | THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley) | Old Truman Brewery, London |
| 2009 | New London School (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley) | Galerie Schuster, Berlin |
| 2008 | THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley) | Old Truman Brewery, London |
| 2007 | THE FUTURE CAN WAIT (curated by Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley) | Old Truman Brewery, London |
| 2007 | Equinox | Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London |
| 2006 | Nocturnal | Sarah Myerscough Fine Art, London |
| 2006 | John Moores 24 / Liverpool Biennale | Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool |
| 2005 | Between Dog & Wolf | Clapham Art Gallery, London |
| 2004 | Forever Beautiful | Clapham Art Gallery, London |
| 2004 | Summer Showcase 2004 | Case 1, London |
| 2004 | Emma Bennett, Marion Coutts, Anna Lucas | Front, London |
| 2001 | A Month in the Garden | The Museum of Garden History, London |
| 2001 | Bittersweet | Danielle Arnaud Contemporary Art, London |
| 2001 | Uchaperoned | Aroma Project Space, Berlin |
| 2001 | Deptford X | Deptford X, London |
| 1999 | Blink | Princelet Street, London |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY | ||
| 2015 | Still Life: Ambiguous Practices, Frances Woodley | Aberystwyth University |
| 2014 | 100 Painters of Tomorrow, Kurt Beers | Thames & Hudson |
| 2014 | Still Life: All Coherence Gone?, Frances Woodley | Aberystwyth University |
| 2013 | Nature Morte, Michael Petry | Thames & Hudson |
| 2013 | 100 London Artists Vol. 1, Zavier Ellis & Edward Lucie-Smith | iArtBook |
| 2013 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT | Ellis Rumley Projects & Saatchi Gallery |
| 2012 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT | Ellis Rumley Projects & Saatchi Gallery |
| 2011 | Saatchi Gallery & Channel 4’s New Sensations and THE FUTURE CAN WAIT | Ellis Rumley Projects & Saatchi Gallery |
| 2008 | THE FUTURE CAN WAIT | Ellis Rumley Projects |
| COLLECTIONS | ||
| K & K Kollektion, Monaco | ||
| Prieskel & Co, London | ||
| Julian & Stephanie Grose, Adelaide | ||
| David Roberts, London | ||
| The Reydan Weiss Collection, Munich | ||
| Private collections in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom & United States | ||
Press Release
| Emma Bennett | All Aflame |
| Exhibition Dates: Friday 7 May – Monday 17 May 2021 | Only one individual, couple, household or group of six will be permitted to attend the exhibition at any one time |
| CHARLIE SMITH LONDON is excited to announce an outstanding solo exhibition of new work by Emma Bennett near to its previous gallery site in Shoreditch at 64 Charlotte Road. New work will be presented on the ground floor, accompanied by a retrospective in the basement. This group of paintings were made in a turbulent year for Bennett, which began with several journeys back and forth between London and Wales to visit her poorly father. Visits to the hospital bedside and then, after his death, to the old family home resonated with a wistfulness that is familiar to the artist, whose primary interests include those of memory, time and transience. Upon returning to London, and during the Covid pandemic, these paintings were made. Bennett adopts enduring motifs including fruit, flowers, drapes, hanging hare, mirrored reflections and ascending stairs, bestowing them with astounding emotional resonance. The artist states: “It is the fragments of still life painting that dominate these images, with clusters of flowers infused with love. Within the endless space of the black grounds, I wanted the compositions to be a guide that leads you, as if following a family line. The figurative elements that coexist here reflect on our relationships with family and significant others – those who inspire us and those who have diminished us.” Fire is another motif that Bennett has explored in recent years: “Still life and fire have coexisted for some time in my paintings as I’ve attempted to hold the flame and the flammable in a precarious balance or on the point of combustion. Here there are multiple fires: for a lost spark can ignite a memory of a past flame. White heat threatens to scorch the fruit that encircles it.” Bennett emphasizes that nature is preeminent. She meditates on individual events that have a long-lasting legacy, transcending the lives of those who live through them as well as the imaginations of those who follow. The event will take place at 64 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, London EC2A 3PE. Open Mon to Sat 11am-6pm & Sun 12pm-5pm. Please contact the gallery for further information at direct@charliesmithlondon.com. Follow us @CHARLIESMITHIdn. PLEASE NOTE: NO MORE THAN SIX GUESTS WILL BE INVITED TO ATTEND THE PREVIEW AT ANY ONE TIME IN 30 MINUTE TIME INTERVALS. WE POLITELY REQUEST ALL ATTENDEES WEAR FACE COVERING AND MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING. PLEASE EMAIL DIRECT@CHARLIESMITHLONDON.COM TO BOOK. DURING PUBLIC HOURS BOOKING IS ADVISED BUT NOT ESSENTIAL. WE POLITELY REQUEST ALL ATTENDEES WEAR FACE COVERING AND MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING. Please contact gallery for images and further information |