GRIMM is delighted to announce the international representation of British Carribean artist Hettie Inniss (b. 1999, Hackney, London, UK), whose work responds to multisensory influences and bodily experiences, capturing and preserving a moment inflected by scent, light, sound and memory. A recent graduate from the Painting MA course at the Royal College of Art, London (UK), Inniss was awarded the Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship in 2022. GRIMM will host Inniss’ first solo exhibition at the London gallery in May 2024.
Inniss is an artist whose practice questions the stability of self. Her distinctive canvases seek to create spaces with their own physics, their own truths and their own multidimensional perspectives. Inniss’ vibrant colour palette allows her to articulate memory and the act of remembering – capturing the afterburn of an image or the light seen behind closed eyes with a warmth and physicality that brings a bodily presence into her canvases.
Working from her involuntary memories, Inniss takes a Proustian approach to making, focusing on the unexpected moments where our senses are stimulated and the mind transports us to familiar or uncanny spaces. Inniss’ unique response to multisensory stimuli in her work allows her to explore how a memory might taste or sound, and how she can capture these ineffable sensations in paint and texture. Her practice tests and resists the boundaries of representational painting, connecting to Inniss’ belief in Black Fluidity as a liberating approach to life and art.
Inniss has participated in multiple group exhibitions, most recently The Painted Room – a group exhibition at GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL), curated by Caroline Walker. The Tate Collective also commissioned her to create an artwork in response to a piece in their collection in October 2023. Ahead of her debut solo exhibition in the summer of 2024, GRIMM will present new work by the artist at Art Rotterdam in February 2024.
Jorg Grimm, founder of GRIMM commented: I’m delighted to welcome Hettie to the gallery programme. Her work displays a sensitivity and nuance that marks her out as an exciting and singular artist, seeking to make the invisible visible, and to render physical sensation in pigment. We look forward to the beginning of a new chapter for Hettie, and to introducing her work in her first UK solo show in London next May.
Hettie Inniss commented: The idea of working with GRIMM was something I whimsically spoke about last year when first acclimatising to the London art scene. It is not only a dream come true, but a privilege to now be joining this wonderful gallery and its truly inspiring roster of artists. I look forward to the next step of my artistic career with GRIMM!
About the artist
Hettie Inniss is an artist and graduate from the University of Leeds, Art and Design BA Hons (2022) and the Royal College of Art on the Painting MA course (2022) where she graduated in September 2023. During her time at RCA Inniss was awarded the Sir Frank Bowling Scholarship (2022) which supports students from Black African and Caribbean diaspora heritage. She is also a recipient of the ColArt Windsor and Newton Bursary (2023). The Tate Collective has also commissioned her to create an artwork in response to a piece in their collection for October 2023.
Inniss’ most recent exhibitions include: The Painted Room at GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL); I Don't Paint What I See at Berntson Bhattacharje, London (UK); Somewhere In Between at Hew Hood Gallery, London (UK); Fluidity at The Night Café, London (UK); RBA Rising Star at Royal Over-seas League, London (UK) and Impressions at Subtitle Labs, London (UK). Inniss’ work is held in several private collections.
