Ruth's paintings explore abstraction through colour, light and surface; work combines inner and outer worlds, with conscious and unconscious elements. Usually emerging from experiences of place and walking and often site specific, the paintings convey a sensory and embodied experience whilst also being concerned with the materiality of paint and process. The scale is often intimate, working 'face to face' with the viewer and there is a sense of touch rather than gesture. As Maurice Merleau Ponty wrote 'How would the painter or poet express anything other than his (her) encounter with the world' G A Johnson 'The Merleau Ponty Aesthetics Reader: Philosophy & Painting' (Northwestern University Press, Illinois, 1993:176)
Regularly exhibiting in the UK and abroad, Ruth works from a studio in Sudbury, Suffolk. She is a member of Contemporary British Painting and also curates shows including Lines for Agnes (2015). She has had work selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and has work in collections in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, USA, New Zealand and China. She has undertaken residencies in China, Portugal and in 2023 was selected for the Mark Rothko 2023 International Painting Symposium and Residency at the Mark Rothko Centre, Daugvapils, Latvia. Ruth has an MA in Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts, a BA in History of Art, University of Warwick and shows work at Rise Art both online and in exhibitions
In 2022-23 Ruth received an Arts Council England Develop Your Creative Practice Award for 'Making Ground' a project about colour and paint, involving a residency at PADA, Portugal and conversations with painters about their relationship with colour that can be heard on Ruth's podcast A Geography of Colour.
Projects connected with place and placemaking also form part of Ruth's practice, engaging with audiences through events, walking, & film/installation. She is working on Fabric: Silk Road, a cultural and ethnographic exchange making connections between the silk mills of Sudbury, Suffolk and the silk industry and traditions along the Silk Road from China back to the UK. She undertook a research trip to the eastern end of the Silk Road in China in October 2018, supported by a British Council Artist's International Development Fund Grant and is currently researching the UK Silk Road. Ruth made a film | walks | swim project The River Runs Through Us with sound artist Stuart Bowditch on the River Stour in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk culminating in a film tour along the river in 2018, funded by Arts Council England and Dedham Vale AONB. She organised the River Stour Festival , an annual year long festival along the river, from the source to the sea which ran from 2018 to 2022 and the first Sudbury Silk Festival in 2019. In 2020 she set up Pasture a project space based in an old dairy in Ballingdon, next to the water meadows in Sudbury, Suffolk, offering a space for artists, writers and creatives to research, make work and immerse themselves in the surrounding landscape.
Regularly exhibiting in the UK and abroad, Ruth works from a studio in Sudbury, Suffolk. She is a member of Contemporary British Painting and also curates shows including Lines for Agnes (2015). She has had work selected for the Jerwood Drawing Prize and the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and has work in collections in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, USA, New Zealand and China. She has undertaken residencies in China, Portugal and in 2023 was selected for the Mark Rothko 2023 International Painting Symposium and Residency at the Mark Rothko Centre, Daugvapils, Latvia. Ruth has an MA in Fine Art, Norwich University of the Arts, a BA in History of Art, University of Warwick and shows work at Rise Art both online and in exhibitions
In 2022-23 Ruth received an Arts Council England Develop Your Creative Practice Award for 'Making Ground' a project about colour and paint, involving a residency at PADA, Portugal and conversations with painters about their relationship with colour that can be heard on Ruth's podcast A Geography of Colour.
Projects connected with place and placemaking also form part of Ruth's practice, engaging with audiences through events, walking, & film/installation. She is working on Fabric: Silk Road, a cultural and ethnographic exchange making connections between the silk mills of Sudbury, Suffolk and the silk industry and traditions along the Silk Road from China back to the UK. She undertook a research trip to the eastern end of the Silk Road in China in October 2018, supported by a British Council Artist's International Development Fund Grant and is currently researching the UK Silk Road. Ruth made a film | walks | swim project The River Runs Through Us with sound artist Stuart Bowditch on the River Stour in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Suffolk culminating in a film tour along the river in 2018, funded by Arts Council England and Dedham Vale AONB. She organised the River Stour Festival , an annual year long festival along the river, from the source to the sea which ran from 2018 to 2022 and the first Sudbury Silk Festival in 2019. In 2020 she set up Pasture a project space based in an old dairy in Ballingdon, next to the water meadows in Sudbury, Suffolk, offering a space for artists, writers and creatives to research, make work and immerse themselves in the surrounding landscape.
Exhibitions
2025
Frinton Stations, Art:Oasis, Frinton, Essex
Atemkristall, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College, London
Dwellings, Soho Home with Rise Art, London
This Year's Model, Studio 1.1, London
2024
CAS Winter Exhibition, The Minories, Colchester
The Fry Art Gallery, Annual Sale, Saffron Walden
For Folk Sake, The Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth, Suffolk
The Beautful East, Art: Oasis, Frinton-on-sea, Essex
Summer Contemporary, Britten Pears Arts, Snape, Suffolk
Slow Painting, Contemporary British Painting, at Studio KIND, Barnstaple and The Plough Arts Centre, Torrington, Devon
Assembly, Contemporary British Painting, Rye Creative Centre, Rye, East Sussex
Beneath the Clouds, The Granary, National Trust, Flatford, Suffolk
Contemporary Modernist Painters, John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire
Oderwane / Detached, Galeria S35, Lodz, Poland
This Year's Model: Part 1, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2023
Love is the Meaning, Julian of Norwich 650th Anniversary Exhibition, St Julian's Church, Norwich
Combat Stress Charity Postcard Auction, London
International Painting Symposium Mark Rothko 2023 & Residency, Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia
Art on a Postcard Charity Auction for St Wilfrid's Hospice, Towner, Eastbourne
Take 5, 142 Gallery, Felixstowe, Suffolk
Open Studio Event Making Ground - A Geography of Colour, Sudbury, Suffolk
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023, The Royal Academy of Arts, London
(With)in or (With)out - Borders & Boundaries, De Melkfabriek, 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
X Contemporary British Painting 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle
This Year's Model: Part III, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
CAS Spring Exhibition, Benham Gallery, Colchester
2022
Animal Vegetable Mineral, The Art Station, Saxmundham, Suffolk
TERRITORY EXPO, Sluice and PADA with Lisbon Art Fair, Barriero, Lisbon, Portugal
Women in Colour: East Anglian Women Artists, Cobbold & Judd, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk
Paint Edgy, Contemporary British Painting, The Ropewalk, Barton on Humber
Combat Stress Secret Postcard Auction, London
A Generous Space 2, Artist Support Pledge, The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Vitalistic Fantasies, Contemporary British Painting, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
M2 Gallery Artist: Recent Work, ASC Gallery, Thurlow Street, London
The Art of Grieving, St Albans Museum, St Albans, Hertfordshire
Paradoxes, Contemporary British Painting, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
This Year's Model '22, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2021
Art on a Postcard Winter Auction, London
Darkness at Noon, APT Gallery, Deptford, London
30 x 30, North House Gallery, Manningtree
Nowhere, Cley 21, Cley Contemporary Art, NNEP, Cley next the sea, Norfolk
Here, The Art Station, Samundham, Suffolk
This Year's Model, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street London
Art Top Ten Lockdown Interviews Exhibition, The Cello Factory, London
2020
Vitalistic Fantasies, Contemporary British Painting exhibition, part of the BEEP Painting Biennial 2020, online
yes/no, Contemporary British Painting online exhibition
Natural Beauty, North House Gallery, Manningree
Beyond Other Horizons: Contemporary Paintings made in Britain and Romania, Iasi Palace of Culture, Iasi, Romania
Mycorrhiza and Extancy, Survival Strategies, Sluice Artist-Led Culture, at AMP Gallery, 1 Acorn Parade, London
2019
Terrace: A Hand Stuffed Mattress, curated by Karl Bielek, at William the Fourth, 816 High Road, Leyton, London
Between Us: A biennial exhibition and exchange with artists from East Anglia and China at Ex Marks the Spot, Great Yarmouth & University of Suffolk, Ipswich
Path, North House Gallery, Manningtree
The Colour in Anything, solo show at the M2 Gallery, Peckham, London
Alive in the Universe at the Venice Biennale, Palazzo Pesaro Papfava, Venice
Made in Britain: 82 Painters of the 21st Century, Priseman Seabrook Collection at the National Museum, Gdánsk, Poland
Contemporary British Painting: An Exhibition of 34 Painters at The Hostry, Norwich, Cathedral, Norwich
Painting as Terrain, The Crypt, Marylebone Parish Church, London
2018
New Painting, Contemporary British Painting members' show, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London
LOCAL ANYWHERE Sluice Members Show 2018, Sluice HQ, 171 Morning Lane, Hackney Central, London
Paintlounge Berlin, Sluice Exchange 2018, Kühlhaus, Berlin
The First Biennial Sino-British Contemporary Art Exhibition, Yantai Art Museum, Yantai, China
Estuary, North House Gallery, Manningtree
The River Runs Through Us, The Boat House Gallery, Flatford (NT) & film screenings at various venues along the River Stour
Brentwood Stations of the Cross, Highlights from the Collection, Komechak Art Gallery, Chicago, USA
This Year's Model part I: Does the Body Rule The Mind? Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street London
Alive in the Universe, film, Caroline Wiseman & Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, London Art Fair
2017
Cobbold & Judd Winter Show, Nayland, Suffolk
Contemporary Masters from Britain: 80 British Painters of the 21st Century, Contemporary British Painting exhibition touring China 2017-2018, including Yantai Art Museum, Yantai; Artall Gallery, Nanjing; Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing & Tianjin Academy of Fine Art, Tianjin, China
Yves Beaumont & Ruth Philo: Paintskips, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
Testcard P, Contemporary British Painting, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London
PIY Paintlounge, Sluice Biennial, London
We are the Weather, residency at the Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, Aldeburgh.
Paint Ground, solo show, Westminster Reference Library, London
Anything Goes? Art Bermondsey Project Space, London
Contemporary Masters from the East of England, East Anglian Art Fund, The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk
Seascape, Skyscape & the Colour Blue, The Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe, Essex
2016
30 x 30 x 34 Contemporary British Painting: 34 Painters, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London
Contemporary British Painting, Summer Exhibition, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight
Looking Up, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
to the lighthouse film with Stuart Bowditch, in Arcadia for All, Radical Essex, Big Screen Southend, Focal Point Gallery, Southend
PING, The Minories Galleries, Colchester, Essex
Paint Collective: Ways of Seeing, Boat House Gallery (NT), Flatford
ART/Converters, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
This Year's Model Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2015
Contemporary British Painting: Group Show, The Crypt, Marylebone Parish Church, London
Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition 2015, Jerwood Space, London
Lines for Agnes: 9 Contemporary Painters, The Crypt, Marylebone Parish Church, London
Stations of the Cross, SE9 Container Gallery, Eltham
to the lighthouse, residency show, grove-projects, Bury St Edmunds
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London
ART/converters! Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
Opening Exhibition, Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe
Stations of the Cross, Contemporary British Painting at Brentwood Cathedral, Brentwood
Towards Abstraction, Gallery Argentum @ KI Europe, High Holborn, London
This Year's Model Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2014
Red Xmas Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
@PaintBritain, Ipswich Art School Gallery, Ipswich
Priseman-Seabroook Collection, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield
Another Shade of Green, Red Lion Books, Colchester
Open Studio Showcase, The Minories Gallery, Colchester
Cley 14 'A Creative Conversation',Cley Contemporary Art, NNEP, Cley next the sea, Norfolk
Another Shade of Green, The Benham Gallery, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, Essex
ART/converters! Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2013
Beyond the Facade, Blickling Hall (NT), Aylsham, Norfolk
Colchester & Tendring Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, Essex Open Studios
From Land to Sea,The Aldeburgh Gallery, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Always There, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
Pink, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
Imperfect Present, Future Perfect, The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk
This Year's Model, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2012
Tide's In, The Aldeburgh Gallery, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Open Studios Showcase The Minories Art Gallery, Colchester, Essex
Colchester & Tendring Open Studios, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, Essex
Stray, Islington Arts Factory, London
Fool's Gold, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
It is Green, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
Parallax Art Fair, Chelsea Town Hall, King's Road, London
2011
Open Studio Showcase Benham Gallery, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester
Colchester & Tendring Open Studios, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester
MA Show, Norwich University College of the Arts
2010
Future Perfect, Stew Gallery, Norwich
Waterlines, Norwich University College of the Arts
Mura, Norwich University College of the Arts
2008
Open Exhibition, Halesworth Art Gallery, Suffolk
2004
Studio Artists & Students, Wysing Arts, Cambridgeshire
Residencies | Projects | Curating
2023 Rothko Museum Residency and Symposium, Daugavpils, Latvia
2023 - A Geography of Colour podcast
2022-3 Making Ground, a project exploring the physical and metaphysical aspects of colour and painters' relationship with colour, supported by an Arts Council England Develop Your Creative Practice grant
2022 TERRITORY Sluice + PADA Residency, PADA Studios, Barreiro, Portugal
2021 - represented by Rise Art
2021 UK Silk Road mapping the history of silk and silk mills in the UK, Fabric: Silk Road
2020 - Pasture a new project space based in an old dairy in Ballingdon, next to the ancient water meadows in Sudbury, Suffolk, offering residencies
2020 Mapping the Mulberry mapping mulberry trees in East Anglia, Fabric:Silk Road
2019-2024 Secretary, Contemporary British Painting
2018-2019 Programme Co-ordinator for Sudbury Silk Festival 2019
2018 - represented on Artsy by Gallery Attache
2018 Artist Selector for the Contemporary British Painting Prize, Huddersfield Art Gallery & the Menier Gallery
2018- Fabric: Silk Road, project involving a cultural and ethnographic exchange, making connections between silk mills of Sudbury, Suffolk and the silk industry and traditions in China with sound artist Stuart Bowditch. Research trip to China 2018, supported by a British Council Artists International Development Fund Grant.
2017-2022 River Stour Festival, Stour Valley, Suffolk, festival director, working with steering group, developing an annual programme, supported by Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project and various other sponsors and local organisations.
2016-18 The River Runs Through Us, project with sound artist Stuart Bowditch and the people & communities along the River Stour, Cambridgeshire, Essex & Suffolk. Film, walks, swim, exhibition, 2017-18, supported by Arts Council England & Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project
2016- WeAreTheWeather, collaborative participatory project using light, colour and sound to explore weather and mental health, residency Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, 2017.
2015 Co-ordinated PAINT! talk by paint maker Pip Seymour @ Firstsite, Colchester,
2015 to the lighthouse, collaborative residency, grove, Bury St Edmunds
2015 Lines for Agnes: 9 Contemporary Painters, exhibition co-curated & organised with Terry Greene, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London, with accompanying booklet and panel discussion
2015 - 2019 Social media programmer, Paint Britain & Contemporary British Painting
2015- Member of Contemporary British Painting
2014-2019, 2023 - Studio holder at Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester
2014 Cley 14: a creative conversation, project with Art foundation students at Norwich City College
2014 Another shade of green, 6 week Residency at the Benham Gallery, Cuckoo Farm Studios,
Colchester, Flourish residency with Cants of Colchester, rose growers
2013 Lost & found - from the attics, research project with residency & exhibition Blickling Hall (NT), Norfolk
2012-2015 to the lighthouse an exploration of Orfordness Lighthouse in paint, photography & collaborative digital film
2012- Lights & Buoys, research & painting looking at systems of coastal navigation
2005-7 Co-organiser,Visions of Sudbury, community engagement project, supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, in St Peters Church with Gainsborough's House & schools & organisations, Sudbury
2003 Curator, 25 Years Exhibition, Conference Space, Great Cornard Upper School, Sudbury
Teaching, Lecturing & Community Engagement
2023
Talk on art practice, Rothko Museum, Daugavpils, Latvia
2019
Lecture & workshop on Pigments & Grounds & Art Practice at Leeds University, Leeds
2018
Talk on art practice at Yantai Art Museum, Yantai, China
Artist Selector for the Contemporary British Painting Prize 2018
The River Runs Through Us film tour along the River Stour, Suffolk & Essex & screenings at Yantai Art Museum, Yantai China & Sluice Exchange, Berlin
2017
Series of walks & public swims, The River Runs Through Us
The colour blue talk at the Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe
2016
Walk & draw workshop, Flatford (NT)
Skies, Constable's skying & the colour blue workshops, Ipswich Museum
Artist's portfolio & critique sessions, group critiques with art societies & groups
2015
Painting & Walking; Walking & Painting, part of lecture series supporting John Virtue exhibition, Firstsite, Colchester
Lectures on professional practice, individual artists portfolio & critique sessions, group critiques with art societies & other groups
Co-ordinator of the Paint Collective, Colchester (2014-2015)
2014
Outreach workshops with Smiths Row, Bury St Edmunds & Suffolk Artlink in various locations
'A Creative Conversation' Cley 14, North Norfolk Education Project, with Art Foundation students,
City College, Norwich
2013
Outreach projects with Suffolk Artlink & Smiths Row in various locations & family art workshops: Hands on History Days, Wormingford Community Education Centre
2012
Art workshops in various locations with Smiths Row, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Artlink, The Alzheimers Society, Wormingford Community Education Centre, People's Community Garden, Ipswich, Footprints Theatre Company, Colchester, FALCON Childrens Arts Festival, Holt, Norfolk & Stanton Heritage Project, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
2011 - 2017 Art workshops with Suffolk Artlink & Gainsborough's House in various locations
2010- Freelance Artist/Facilitator working with galleries, groups & individuals
1987- 2010 Teaching GCSE & A level Art in Secondary Education in Hertfordshire and Suffolk
1981-1986 Picture Librarian, Woodmansterne, Watford
1978-1979 Archaeological Assistant, South Lincolnshire Archaeological Unit, Heckington
Education
2009-2011 MA Fine Art Norwich University of the Arts
1990-1992 PG Diploma Art Textiles Anglia Ruskin University
1986-1987 PGCE Art Institute of Education, University of London
1975-1978 BA Hons History of Art University of Warwick
Printable CV below
2025
Frinton Stations, Art:Oasis, Frinton, Essex
Atemkristall, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College, London
Dwellings, Soho Home with Rise Art, London
This Year's Model, Studio 1.1, London
2024
CAS Winter Exhibition, The Minories, Colchester
The Fry Art Gallery, Annual Sale, Saffron Walden
For Folk Sake, The Cut Arts Centre, Halesworth, Suffolk
The Beautful East, Art: Oasis, Frinton-on-sea, Essex
Summer Contemporary, Britten Pears Arts, Snape, Suffolk
Slow Painting, Contemporary British Painting, at Studio KIND, Barnstaple and The Plough Arts Centre, Torrington, Devon
Assembly, Contemporary British Painting, Rye Creative Centre, Rye, East Sussex
Beneath the Clouds, The Granary, National Trust, Flatford, Suffolk
Contemporary Modernist Painters, John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire
Oderwane / Detached, Galeria S35, Lodz, Poland
This Year's Model: Part 1, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2023
Love is the Meaning, Julian of Norwich 650th Anniversary Exhibition, St Julian's Church, Norwich
Combat Stress Charity Postcard Auction, London
International Painting Symposium Mark Rothko 2023 & Residency, Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils, Latvia
Art on a Postcard Charity Auction for St Wilfrid's Hospice, Towner, Eastbourne
Take 5, 142 Gallery, Felixstowe, Suffolk
Open Studio Event Making Ground - A Geography of Colour, Sudbury, Suffolk
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2023, The Royal Academy of Arts, London
(With)in or (With)out - Borders & Boundaries, De Melkfabriek, 's Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands
X Contemporary British Painting 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Newcastle Contemporary Art, Newcastle
This Year's Model: Part III, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
CAS Spring Exhibition, Benham Gallery, Colchester
2022
Animal Vegetable Mineral, The Art Station, Saxmundham, Suffolk
TERRITORY EXPO, Sluice and PADA with Lisbon Art Fair, Barriero, Lisbon, Portugal
Women in Colour: East Anglian Women Artists, Cobbold & Judd, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk
Paint Edgy, Contemporary British Painting, The Ropewalk, Barton on Humber
Combat Stress Secret Postcard Auction, London
A Generous Space 2, Artist Support Pledge, The New Art Gallery, Walsall
Vitalistic Fantasies, Contemporary British Painting, Elysium Gallery, Swansea
M2 Gallery Artist: Recent Work, ASC Gallery, Thurlow Street, London
The Art of Grieving, St Albans Museum, St Albans, Hertfordshire
Paradoxes, Contemporary British Painting, Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight
This Year's Model '22, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2021
Art on a Postcard Winter Auction, London
Darkness at Noon, APT Gallery, Deptford, London
30 x 30, North House Gallery, Manningtree
Nowhere, Cley 21, Cley Contemporary Art, NNEP, Cley next the sea, Norfolk
Here, The Art Station, Samundham, Suffolk
This Year's Model, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street London
Art Top Ten Lockdown Interviews Exhibition, The Cello Factory, London
2020
Vitalistic Fantasies, Contemporary British Painting exhibition, part of the BEEP Painting Biennial 2020, online
yes/no, Contemporary British Painting online exhibition
Natural Beauty, North House Gallery, Manningree
Beyond Other Horizons: Contemporary Paintings made in Britain and Romania, Iasi Palace of Culture, Iasi, Romania
Mycorrhiza and Extancy, Survival Strategies, Sluice Artist-Led Culture, at AMP Gallery, 1 Acorn Parade, London
2019
Terrace: A Hand Stuffed Mattress, curated by Karl Bielek, at William the Fourth, 816 High Road, Leyton, London
Between Us: A biennial exhibition and exchange with artists from East Anglia and China at Ex Marks the Spot, Great Yarmouth & University of Suffolk, Ipswich
Path, North House Gallery, Manningtree
The Colour in Anything, solo show at the M2 Gallery, Peckham, London
Alive in the Universe at the Venice Biennale, Palazzo Pesaro Papfava, Venice
Made in Britain: 82 Painters of the 21st Century, Priseman Seabrook Collection at the National Museum, Gdánsk, Poland
Contemporary British Painting: An Exhibition of 34 Painters at The Hostry, Norwich, Cathedral, Norwich
Painting as Terrain, The Crypt, Marylebone Parish Church, London
2018
New Painting, Contemporary British Painting members' show, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London
LOCAL ANYWHERE Sluice Members Show 2018, Sluice HQ, 171 Morning Lane, Hackney Central, London
Paintlounge Berlin, Sluice Exchange 2018, Kühlhaus, Berlin
The First Biennial Sino-British Contemporary Art Exhibition, Yantai Art Museum, Yantai, China
Estuary, North House Gallery, Manningtree
The River Runs Through Us, The Boat House Gallery, Flatford (NT) & film screenings at various venues along the River Stour
Brentwood Stations of the Cross, Highlights from the Collection, Komechak Art Gallery, Chicago, USA
This Year's Model part I: Does the Body Rule The Mind? Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street London
Alive in the Universe, film, Caroline Wiseman & Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, London Art Fair
2017
Cobbold & Judd Winter Show, Nayland, Suffolk
Contemporary Masters from Britain: 80 British Painters of the 21st Century, Contemporary British Painting exhibition touring China 2017-2018, including Yantai Art Museum, Yantai; Artall Gallery, Nanjing; Jiangsu Art Museum, Nanjing & Tianjin Academy of Fine Art, Tianjin, China
Yves Beaumont & Ruth Philo: Paintskips, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
Testcard P, Contemporary British Painting, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London
PIY Paintlounge, Sluice Biennial, London
We are the Weather, residency at the Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, Aldeburgh.
Paint Ground, solo show, Westminster Reference Library, London
Anything Goes? Art Bermondsey Project Space, London
Contemporary Masters from the East of England, East Anglian Art Fund, The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk
Seascape, Skyscape & the Colour Blue, The Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe, Essex
2016
30 x 30 x 34 Contemporary British Painting: 34 Painters, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London
Contemporary British Painting, Summer Exhibition, Quay Arts, Isle of Wight
Looking Up, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
to the lighthouse film with Stuart Bowditch, in Arcadia for All, Radical Essex, Big Screen Southend, Focal Point Gallery, Southend
PING, The Minories Galleries, Colchester, Essex
Paint Collective: Ways of Seeing, Boat House Gallery (NT), Flatford
ART/Converters, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
This Year's Model Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2015
Contemporary British Painting: Group Show, The Crypt, Marylebone Parish Church, London
Jerwood Drawing Prize Exhibition 2015, Jerwood Space, London
Lines for Agnes: 9 Contemporary Painters, The Crypt, Marylebone Parish Church, London
Stations of the Cross, SE9 Container Gallery, Eltham
to the lighthouse, residency show, grove-projects, Bury St Edmunds
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Piccadilly, London
ART/converters! Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
Opening Exhibition, Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe
Stations of the Cross, Contemporary British Painting at Brentwood Cathedral, Brentwood
Towards Abstraction, Gallery Argentum @ KI Europe, High Holborn, London
This Year's Model Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2014
Red Xmas Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
@PaintBritain, Ipswich Art School Gallery, Ipswich
Priseman-Seabroook Collection, Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield
Another Shade of Green, Red Lion Books, Colchester
Open Studio Showcase, The Minories Gallery, Colchester
Cley 14 'A Creative Conversation',Cley Contemporary Art, NNEP, Cley next the sea, Norfolk
Another Shade of Green, The Benham Gallery, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, Essex
ART/converters! Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2013
Beyond the Facade, Blickling Hall (NT), Aylsham, Norfolk
Colchester & Tendring Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, Essex Open Studios
From Land to Sea,The Aldeburgh Gallery, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Always There, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
Pink, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
Imperfect Present, Future Perfect, The Cut, Halesworth, Suffolk
This Year's Model, Studio 1.1, Redchurch Street, London
2012
Tide's In, The Aldeburgh Gallery, Aldeburgh, Suffolk
Open Studios Showcase The Minories Art Gallery, Colchester, Essex
Colchester & Tendring Open Studios, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester, Essex
Stray, Islington Arts Factory, London
Fool's Gold, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
It is Green, Cultivate, Vyner Street, London
Parallax Art Fair, Chelsea Town Hall, King's Road, London
2011
Open Studio Showcase Benham Gallery, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester
Colchester & Tendring Open Studios, Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester
MA Show, Norwich University College of the Arts
2010
Future Perfect, Stew Gallery, Norwich
Waterlines, Norwich University College of the Arts
Mura, Norwich University College of the Arts
2008
Open Exhibition, Halesworth Art Gallery, Suffolk
2004
Studio Artists & Students, Wysing Arts, Cambridgeshire
Residencies | Projects | Curating
2023 Rothko Museum Residency and Symposium, Daugavpils, Latvia
2023 - A Geography of Colour podcast
2022-3 Making Ground, a project exploring the physical and metaphysical aspects of colour and painters' relationship with colour, supported by an Arts Council England Develop Your Creative Practice grant
2022 TERRITORY Sluice + PADA Residency, PADA Studios, Barreiro, Portugal
2021 - represented by Rise Art
2021 UK Silk Road mapping the history of silk and silk mills in the UK, Fabric: Silk Road
2020 - Pasture a new project space based in an old dairy in Ballingdon, next to the ancient water meadows in Sudbury, Suffolk, offering residencies
2020 Mapping the Mulberry mapping mulberry trees in East Anglia, Fabric:Silk Road
2019-2024 Secretary, Contemporary British Painting
2018-2019 Programme Co-ordinator for Sudbury Silk Festival 2019
2018 - represented on Artsy by Gallery Attache
2018 Artist Selector for the Contemporary British Painting Prize, Huddersfield Art Gallery & the Menier Gallery
2018- Fabric: Silk Road, project involving a cultural and ethnographic exchange, making connections between silk mills of Sudbury, Suffolk and the silk industry and traditions in China with sound artist Stuart Bowditch. Research trip to China 2018, supported by a British Council Artists International Development Fund Grant.
2017-2022 River Stour Festival, Stour Valley, Suffolk, festival director, working with steering group, developing an annual programme, supported by Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project and various other sponsors and local organisations.
2016-18 The River Runs Through Us, project with sound artist Stuart Bowditch and the people & communities along the River Stour, Cambridgeshire, Essex & Suffolk. Film, walks, swim, exhibition, 2017-18, supported by Arts Council England & Dedham Vale AONB & Stour Valley Project
2016- WeAreTheWeather, collaborative participatory project using light, colour and sound to explore weather and mental health, residency Aldeburgh Beach Lookout, 2017.
2015 Co-ordinated PAINT! talk by paint maker Pip Seymour @ Firstsite, Colchester,
2015 to the lighthouse, collaborative residency, grove, Bury St Edmunds
2015 Lines for Agnes: 9 Contemporary Painters, exhibition co-curated & organised with Terry Greene, The Crypt, St Marylebone Parish Church, London, with accompanying booklet and panel discussion
2015 - 2019 Social media programmer, Paint Britain & Contemporary British Painting
2015- Member of Contemporary British Painting
2014-2019, 2023 - Studio holder at Cuckoo Farm Studios, Colchester
2014 Cley 14: a creative conversation, project with Art foundation students at Norwich City College
2014 Another shade of green, 6 week Residency at the Benham Gallery, Cuckoo Farm Studios,
Colchester, Flourish residency with Cants of Colchester, rose growers
2013 Lost & found - from the attics, research project with residency & exhibition Blickling Hall (NT), Norfolk
2012-2015 to the lighthouse an exploration of Orfordness Lighthouse in paint, photography & collaborative digital film
2012- Lights & Buoys, research & painting looking at systems of coastal navigation
2005-7 Co-organiser,Visions of Sudbury, community engagement project, supported by Heritage Lottery Fund, in St Peters Church with Gainsborough's House & schools & organisations, Sudbury
2003 Curator, 25 Years Exhibition, Conference Space, Great Cornard Upper School, Sudbury
Teaching, Lecturing & Community Engagement
2023
Talk on art practice, Rothko Museum, Daugavpils, Latvia
2019
Lecture & workshop on Pigments & Grounds & Art Practice at Leeds University, Leeds
2018
Talk on art practice at Yantai Art Museum, Yantai, China
Artist Selector for the Contemporary British Painting Prize 2018
The River Runs Through Us film tour along the River Stour, Suffolk & Essex & screenings at Yantai Art Museum, Yantai China & Sluice Exchange, Berlin
2017
Series of walks & public swims, The River Runs Through Us
The colour blue talk at the Sentinel Gallery, Wivenhoe
2016
Walk & draw workshop, Flatford (NT)
Skies, Constable's skying & the colour blue workshops, Ipswich Museum
Artist's portfolio & critique sessions, group critiques with art societies & groups
2015
Painting & Walking; Walking & Painting, part of lecture series supporting John Virtue exhibition, Firstsite, Colchester
Lectures on professional practice, individual artists portfolio & critique sessions, group critiques with art societies & other groups
Co-ordinator of the Paint Collective, Colchester (2014-2015)
2014
Outreach workshops with Smiths Row, Bury St Edmunds & Suffolk Artlink in various locations
'A Creative Conversation' Cley 14, North Norfolk Education Project, with Art Foundation students,
City College, Norwich
2013
Outreach projects with Suffolk Artlink & Smiths Row in various locations & family art workshops: Hands on History Days, Wormingford Community Education Centre
2012
Art workshops in various locations with Smiths Row, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Artlink, The Alzheimers Society, Wormingford Community Education Centre, People's Community Garden, Ipswich, Footprints Theatre Company, Colchester, FALCON Childrens Arts Festival, Holt, Norfolk & Stanton Heritage Project, Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds
2011 - 2017 Art workshops with Suffolk Artlink & Gainsborough's House in various locations
2010- Freelance Artist/Facilitator working with galleries, groups & individuals
1987- 2010 Teaching GCSE & A level Art in Secondary Education in Hertfordshire and Suffolk
1981-1986 Picture Librarian, Woodmansterne, Watford
1978-1979 Archaeological Assistant, South Lincolnshire Archaeological Unit, Heckington
Education
2009-2011 MA Fine Art Norwich University of the Arts
1990-1992 PG Diploma Art Textiles Anglia Ruskin University
1986-1987 PGCE Art Institute of Education, University of London
1975-1978 BA Hons History of Art University of Warwick
Printable CV below
| ruth_philo_cv_2023.pdf |