Lindsay Mapes — Contemporary Abstract Artist, London

Lindsay Mapes is a contemporary abstract artist based in London. Her large-scale paintings, embroidery works and silk transparency series have been exhibited internationally — including at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, and Frieze London. She holds an MFA in Painting from the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London.

Where I started

I am originally from the United States. I grew up between Arizona and Kansas City, where I first started taking painting classes at the Kansas City Art Institute as a teenager. It became very clear very quickly that this was my journey. My father told me I always said I wanted to be an artist — specifically a painter. I believe I had no other choice. Every decision I have made in my life has been organised around that fact.

I studied Painting at the San Francisco Art Institute (1996–2000), then Studio Arts Centre International in Florence, Italy (2006–07), before completing my MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College London (2008–10). I then completed the Turps Off-Site Studio Art Programme in London (2021–23). I have been based in East London since 2008, and I still think it is the only place I could do this work. I am really interested in the grit of city life and the messiness, not the perfectness.

Painting is an incredibly interesting, difficult, all-consuming, pure, righteous, dull, lonely, joyous, thankful and laughable way of life. This simple love of paint has led me on.

Selected Exhibitions:

Recent exhibitions include work shown at:

  • 1 Poultry Street London,

  • Two Plus Two London,

  • Canal Boat Contemporary London,

  • APT Gallery London,

  • Bell House London,

  • Safehouse 1 London,

  • Elysium Gallery Swansea,

  • Hypha Studios × Creative Land Trust @ Frieze London,

  • Bermondsey Project Space London,

  • ING Discerning Eye Exhibition London,

  • Barbican Arts Group Trust London,

  • Aleph Contemporary London,

  • Thames-Side Gallery London.

Earlier exhibitions include the:

  • Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition 2022,

  • Contemporary British Painting Prize 2022,

  • Other Art Fair in London/ Los Angeles/ Brooklyn,

  • Porthminster Gallery St Ives,

  • Trelex Artist Residency Geneva Switzerland,

  • One Way Gallery in Rhode Island USA.

See my Résumé for a full list

Awards & Recognition:

  • Contemporary British Painting Prize (Longlisted), London, U.K. (2022)

  • The SOLO Award, London (2018);

  • The Marmite Prize for Painting, London (2016 and 2012);

  • New Blood Art Featured Artist (2016);

  • Tomorrow & Today Featured Artist (2015);

  • Jerwood Painting Fellowship, shortlisted, London (2012).

Press & Publications