Caroline Walker
Born 1982, Dunfermline (UK)
Lives and works in London (UK)
Caroline Walker’s canvases and intimate scenes depict anonymous women in settings that blur the boundaries between public and private. Walker’s paintings are a lens for the everyday lives of women, and her portraits of diverse subjects tell their story through the spaces they inhabit. Each of Walker’s series conveys a distinct sense oftime and place: from the undisguised luxury and classdynamics of beauty parlors in her series Painted Ladies, to the humanistic portraits of refugees and asylum seekers in Home (commissioned by Kettle’s Yard, UK), to scenes of anonymous women at work framed by the architecture of London in service. In her recent artworks, Walker turns her focus to her immediate surroundings. She explores the boundary between being an observer – that is preserving the “objective” eye of an outsider – and magnifying the experience of a place which has become part of the fabric ofher life. They are conceived as a reflection on community and how the anonymous people we encounter become characters in our own stories. Her subjects include a neighbor working in her garden, the local drycleaner and a pharmacy sales assistant, all of whom are connected within a discrete area of the sprawling London metropolis. Walker describes small movements of daily existence and encapsulates the corners of life which are often overlooked but nonetheless vital, written and erased from history over and over again. They also serve as a kind of self-portrait by recording the artist’s journey through the places she frequents. Walker has received wide acclaim for her portrayals of women as works of social commentary, although itis her ability to distill viewpoints from familiar settings and her talent as a colorist that first impact viewers of her paintings. The complexities of her subjects’ lives filter through to the surface and coalesce in imagesthat both fulfill the senses and speak to poignant moments of human experience. As a cohesive body of work, Walker’s paintings explore the performance of gender identity, femininity, and question the norms of depicting women and the female form across a range of socio-economic contexts.
Caroline Walker (b. 1982 in Dunfermline, UK) currently lives and works in London (UK), where she completed her MA at the Royal College of Art in 2009. Recent and ongoing solo exhibitions include, Caroline Walker, K11, Shanghai (CN) [forthcoming]; Lisa, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London (UK); Caroline Walker: Birth Reflections, The Fitzrovia Chapel, London (UK) in 2022; Windows, KM21, Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); Women's work, Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham (UK); Nearby, GRIMM, New York, NY (US) in 2021; JANET, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (UK) in 2020; A Woman Sewing, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL) in 2019. Selected group exhibitions include, the British Art Show 9, Wolverhampton; Manchester and Plymouth (UK); A Female Gaze, Nottingham Castle, Nottingham (UK) in 2022; Condition Humaine, GRIMM, New York, NY (US); The Rules of Art?, National Museum Cardiff, Cardiff (UK); Reflections beyond the Surface, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL) in 2021; Everyday Heroes, Hayward Gallery, London (UK) in 2020; The Rising Tide: Women at Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge (UK); María Berrío, Caroline Walker, Flora Yukhnovich, Victoria Miro Gallery, in association with The Great Women Artists, London (UK) in 2019.
Walker is represented in a number of public collections including: KM21, Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); National Museum Wales, Cardiff (UK); Museum Voorlinden (NL); The UK Government Art Collection, London (UK); Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker (NO); Akzo Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); ING Art Collection, Amsterdam (NL); The Franks-Suss Collection (UK); De Ying Foundation (KR); Shetland Islands Council, Lerwick (UK) and Pérez Art Museum Miami (US).
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De schilderijen van Caroline Walker gluren naar binnen op Savile Row (in Dutch)
Sophia Zürcher, Het Parool, September 2, 2019 -
Caroline Walker – New Work
Het Parool, September 1, 2019 -
Pulp Fiction: The Endurance of the Perfect Pop Aesthetic
Sukayna Powell, Elephant, August 7, 2019 -
An Interview with Caroline Walker
Alisei Apollonio, Artuner, June 4, 2019 -
Caroline Walker paints the unseen women London's service industries
Ruby Boddington, It's Nice That, June 4, 2019 -
Caroline Walker's Paintings of Women Reclaim the Gaze
Holly Black, Elephant, October 28, 2018 -
Caroline Walker : au nom des femmes
Flo Ryne, Beware!, July 3, 2018 -
The new exhibitionists
Spectator Life, June 13, 2018 -
Episode 105: Caroline Walker
Brian Alfred, SOUND & VISION Podcast, May 4, 2018 -
O Privire În Viețile Lor
Iona Chira, Harper’s Bazaar Romania, April 6, 2018 -
Caroline Walker: Sunset at Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles
Jonathan Griffin, ArtReview, April 1, 2018 -
Kettle's Yard to launch new exhibition reflecting diversity of British art
Florence Hallett, Independent, February 11, 2018 -
Lives Interrupted
Liz Jobey, Financial Times, February 4, 2018 -
Cinematic Paintings Set in a Modernist Los Angeles Home
Holly Black, AnOther , January 29, 2018 -
If You Love The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, You'll Love These Paintings By Caroline Walker
Brienne Walsh, Forbes, January 26, 2018 -
Caroline Walker > California dreaming?
Matt Price, Fused Magazine, October 11, 2017 -
Caroline Walker. Illuminations, 2012. Oil on linen, 240 x 305 cm. © the artist. Caroline Walker. In Every Dream Home, 2
Emily Spicer, Studio International, October 4, 2017 -
The pull of Hockney’s pool paintings
Matthew Sperling, Apollo, February 4, 2017 -
Voyeur in zonnig resort (in Dutch)
Sophia Zürcher, Het Parool, September 30, 2016 -
Interview: Dr Rina Arya in conversation with Caroline Walker
Dr. Rina Arya, thisistomorrow, May 23, 2016 -
The Scottish Connection
Matt Price, Flash Art, November 6, 2015 -
Enigmas: Caroline Walker’s lithographs and paintings
Matthew Sperling, Apollo, August 15, 2014 -
Bad Intent: Caroline Walker's Paintings Give an Uneasy Edge to the Lifestyles of the rich and fabulous
Martin Newman, HuffPost, September 29, 2013 -
Caroline Walker: In Every Dream Home
Daisy Woodward, AnOther, July 19, 2013