Bio
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I am an artist working between drawing, painting and sculpture, interested in haptic materials that are historically and socially linked with class, gender and sexuality. I use clay, cloth, paper and wood to weave visual stories which challenge and disrupt our socio-political fabric.
My work attempts to explore the discomfort and awkwardness of inhabiting bodies, both biological and artificial, the history of bodily health, the human connection to clothing and textiles, the notion of worship and religion, and our relationship with the more-than human sphere through the lens of class. Metamorphic, animalistic and anthropomorphic, beyond-human figures that transgress category, reside within unsettling or idyllic spaces. Archetype and symbol thread through the work, where my personal writings act as a starting point for feelings and ideas, influenced by intergenerational storytelling, and drawing on psychoanalysis, magical realism, science fiction and folklore.
Current work focuses on pictorial image-making, in paint, pencil and ink on paper, sometimes on large sewn panels or smaller handmade sheets. I look to challenge conventional representations of the human, creature, and woman, restaging within queer spaces free from binaries. Embodying a reconnection to forgotten realms and ideas, I aim to move away from a visual escapism that numbs, but instead embraces complicated personal experiences around gender, dress, sexuality, health, ecology, technology and grief. The tall flat works foster deeper connections between myself and the characters, and communicate a personal visual language and draftsmanship. These pictorial worlds are accompanied by sculpture and object, that act as suggestive offerings of ritual, and have become key to reading the imagery and narrative of the works.
CV
Bethany Stead (b.1995, West Yorkshire)
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Based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Studio member at The NewBridge Project. Member of Hypha Collective.
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Education
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2020 – 2021, Collective Studio Programme, The NewBridge Project, Newcastle upon Tyne
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2015 – 2019, Bachelor of Fine Arts, First Class Honours, Newcastle University
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2018, Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture, Erasmus, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey​
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Exhibitions​
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Current
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Salford Art Gallery, Greater Manchester, 17th Oct 2024 - 23rd Feb 2025
Forthcoming
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A Pocket Full of Plenty
Hypha Studios, Netil House, London, Jan 2025
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Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, Feb 2025
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Title TBC
36 Gallery, with Amelia Frances Wood, Newcastle upon Tyne, April 2025
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Solo​
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2024
Snatch a Thread
Moving Gallery, Sunderland, UK
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2022
Dip Your Wick
'The PUBlic Window', Republic Gallery, Blyth, UK
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Selected Group
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2024​
Selected by collector Carol Leonard, Mall Galleries, London, UK
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Antigone Revisited
Hypha Studios HQ, London, UK
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Constantine Gallery - Middlesbrough Art Week
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North East Emerging Artist Award Shortlist
Seaton Delaval Hall, Seaton Sluice, UK
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Gallagher and Turner, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Pleasure Permission Boundaries
Ex Libris Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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2023
CRAWL SPACE
The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras, London, UK
Gatherings
SET Woolwich, London, UK
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Hypha
Church of St John, Healey, Riding Mill, Northumberland, UK
Now That's What I Call Art 2
Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK​
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2022
Collected
36 Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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Now That's What I Call Art
Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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2021
Loose Time
Vane Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
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BALTIC Open Submission
BALTIC Gallery, Gateshead, UK​
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2019
Manifestations
Conny Art Festival, Consett, UK
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ArtHouses Festival
Whitley Bay, UK
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Awards and Residencies​
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2024, The Eaton Fund
2024, The Elephant Fund
2024, North-East Emerging Artist Award Shortlist, Seaton Delaval Hall
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2024, Brass Tacks Artist Bursary, Newcastle Arts Centre
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2022, BALTIC Artist Bursary and Curator Studio Visits with Emma Dean
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2018, Artist Bursary, The NewBridge Project
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2018, Bartlett Travel Scholarship​​​
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Artist Talks / Teaching​
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2024, Artist Visiting Speaker, Northumbria University
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2024, Fine Art Visiting Speaker Programme, Newcastle University
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2024, Counterweight Artist Q&A, Newcastle Arts Centre
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2022 - present, Course Tutor for intensive sculpture and drawing courses, Newcastle Arts Centre
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Press / Publications ​
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2024, SIX OF THE BEST: BETHANY STEAD, Interview, Narc Magazine
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2024, Counterweight – Review by Liv Collins, Review, Newcastle Arts Centre
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2024, North East art prize finalists announced ahead of Seaton Delaval Hall exhibition, Article, Northumberland Gazette
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2024, Showcasing city’s creative potential, Article, The QT
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2023 Gallagher & Turner to Present New Exhibition 'Portals' in 2024, Article, NE1 Get into Newcastle
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2023, This new exhibition shines a spotlight on working-class creatives, Article, Dazed & Confused Magazine
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2023, Pulse Artist Feature, April - May Edition of The Crack Magazine
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2022, Supporting Material, Publication, produced by Maya Wallis and printed by Overlay Press
2022, Audiovisual Cultures episode 116 – Folk Art with Bethany Stead, Slacks Radio Residency, Audio Visual Cultures Podcast
2022, Northern Formations, Publication, Corridoor8
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2021, To swim against the stream, Article, a-n Special Edition Artists Newsletter
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