Victoria Cantons
British b. 1969
Victoria Cantons (b.1969, London, UK) is a conceptual visual artist working in London, UK. Cantons’s artistic work is varied and is presented in multiple mediums including painting, neon, poetry, text, performance, photographs and videos, connecting and disconnecting psychological boundaries in the relationships we have with ourselves and others.
Her work is autobiographical and confessional with political undercurrents. Being raised in a multicultural and multireligious home by European immigrant parents—her mother was from Spain and Catholic, and her father was French-Algerian, born to Russian Jewish and Basque parents—Cantons has memories of being different from the outset. Her ability to accept, declare and celebrate oneself is an ongoing journey for her, and has been littered with mental anguish, trauma, and scars. This influence can be seen in her works, with her use of text written into the surface of paintings and the language used to title works.
Cantons’ paintings explore the intersection abstraction and figuration. She makes highly naturalistic figurative canvases often making use of photographic images, and also makes expressionistic canvases that incorporate abstractions, expressive drips, and gestural, calligraphic line-work into lyrical ruminations. Using a large image archive, her paintings reference her family members, self portraits, flowers, and objects, and she often inscribes quoted text from a wide variety of sources. Cantons sometimes incorporates ideas of femininity and gender in her work, drawing on her experiences as a gay and transgender woman.
Her work is autobiographical and confessional with political undercurrents. Being raised in a multicultural and multireligious home by European immigrant parents—her mother was from Spain and Catholic, and her father was French-Algerian, born to Russian Jewish and Basque parents—Cantons has memories of being different from the outset. Her ability to accept, declare and celebrate oneself is an ongoing journey for her, and has been littered with mental anguish, trauma, and scars. This influence can be seen in her works, with her use of text written into the surface of paintings and the language used to title works.
Cantons’ paintings explore the intersection abstraction and figuration. She makes highly naturalistic figurative canvases often making use of photographic images, and also makes expressionistic canvases that incorporate abstractions, expressive drips, and gestural, calligraphic line-work into lyrical ruminations. Using a large image archive, her paintings reference her family members, self portraits, flowers, and objects, and she often inscribes quoted text from a wide variety of sources. Cantons sometimes incorporates ideas of femininity and gender in her work, drawing on her experiences as a gay and transgender woman.
EDUCATION
+2021-18 MFA Painting, Slade School of Art, University College London
+2018-17 Painters Studio Programme, Turps Art School, London
+2017-14 BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting, Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London
+1997-95 Drama, Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA South), London
RESIDENCIES
+2023 The Chalet Creative Residency, Sigriswil, Switzerland
+2022 The Vannucci Artist Residency, Città della Pieve, Italy
+2021 Silver Art Projects Digital Residency, New York, USA
PRIZES / SHORTLISTS
+2024 Apollo’s Decathlon – A Cultural Olympiad (Shortlist)
+2023 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (Shortlist)
+2022 New Contemporaries (shortlist)
+2021 Chadwell Award (shortlist)
+2018 Felix Slade Scholarship, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
+2023 If Only, Time Were Ours To Spend, Again, curation by Christian Dominguez, Kunstverein Dresden (Art Association Dresden), Dresden
+2023 What Birds Plunge Through Is Not The Intimate Space, Guts Gallery, London
+2023 Nothing is Absolute, Flowers Gallery, London
+2022 People Trust People Who Look Like Them, Flowers Gallery, London
+2020 Champagne tastes on beer money, Guts Gallery, London
+2018 Give Me Your Hand So That I May Not Be Alone, 48 Woodstock Road, London
TWO ARTIST SHOW
+2021 Tomorrow Will Be The Most Beautiful Day Of Your Life, with Xu Yang, Studio West, London
+2021 You Can Tell Me, with Marla Bendini, curation by John Silvis, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
+2025 Opens 22nd February – Transfeminisms, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Arizona
+2024 Opens August – Fundraiser, Hospital Rooms @ Hauser & Wirth, London
+2024 Transfeminisms Chapter III, Mimosa House, London
+2024 Artist of the Day Archive, Flowers Gallery, London
+2024 Apollo’s Decathlon – A Cultural Olympiad, Château de Montsoreau–Museum of Contemporary Art, Montsoreau
+2024 Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London
+2024 Beyond the Looking Glass, galerie lange + pult, Zürich
+2024 The Arcadian Dream, SPURS Gallery, Beijing
+2024 Present Tense, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset
+2023 Last Tango Fundraising Auction, Last Tango Kunstverein Zurich (Last Tango Art Association Zurich), Zurich
+2023 The Cult of Beauty, Wellcome Collection, London
+2023 Self Portrait Prize 2023, The Atkinson Museum, Southport
+2023 Holding Space, Hospital Rooms at Hauser & Wirth, London
+2023 Bee Garden Party Fundraiser Postcard Art Auction, Bees for Development, Marlborough House, London
+2023 The object stares back, Tube Culture Hall, Milan
+2023 Positions Part 1, Alma Pearl, London
+2023 (It’s My Party) I Can Cry If I Want To, Guts Gallery, London
+2022 Small is Beautiful 40th edition, Flowers Gallery, London
+2022 Combat Stress Charity, Bankside Gallery, London and Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow
+2022 New Romantics, The Artist Room x Phillips at Lee Eugean Gallery, Seoul
+2022 Like there is hope and I can dream of another world, Hospital Rooms at Hauser & Wirth, London
+2022 The Amber Room by Rosie Reed, Reference Point, London
+2022 Art On A Postcard: International Women’s Day, Bomb Factory Gallery, London
+2022 An Ode to Orlando, Marcelle Joseph Projects @ Pi Artworks, London
+2021 Invisible Dragon, Cedric Bardawil, London
+2021 Small is Beautiful 39th edition, Flowers Gallery, London
+2021 ING Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London
+2021 LONDON GRADS NOW. 21, Saatchi Gallery, London
+2021 Collection, Sixty Six London, London
+2021 Yield, No 20 Arts, London
+2021 A New Art World, Guts Gallery, London
+2021 Slade Postgraduate Fine Art Degree Show, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2021 Every Woman Biennial London: My love is Your Love, Copeland Gallery, London
+2021 ANOTHER FIGURE, Silvis Contemporary, Online
+2021 TRANSCENDENTAL, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
+2021 When Snowdrops Rise, MAPA Fine Art, online
+2021 New Futures Digital: Slade, Kovet.art Gallery, Online
+2021 Redirecting, Tree Art Museum, Beijing
+2020 PAPA RAGAZZE, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles
+2020 the tales we tell ourselves, Purslane Gallery, online
+2020 TwentyTwenty Women, Artistellar Gallery, online
+2020 RA Summer (Winter) Show, Royal Academy of Art, London
+2020 A Rudimentary Education, Art Lacuna, London
+2020 LONDON GRADS NOW., Saatchi Gallery, London
+2020 RCA & SLADE Graduate Showcase, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London
+2020 Begin Again, Guts Gallery, online show via instagram
+2020 Tomorrow: London (week 3 of 4), White Cube Gallery, London
+2020 Trans-Identity: Body, Soul and Time, NoSpace Organisation, online show via instagram and NoSpace WeChat Official
+2020 When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, online show via instagram
+2019 Little Originals exhibition, Dock Street Studios, Dundee
+2019 Annual Open Exhibition 2019, The South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts @ Exeter Castle, Devon
+2019 Graduate Interim Show, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2019 Beautiful China, Beautiful World: Golden Era of China-UK, China Pictorial & UK-China Photography Association @ Central Hall Westminster, London and Charing Cross Library, London
+2019 On the Mountain We Stay, supported by No Space in Zichuan district, Zibo city, Shandong province, China
+2019 AIR Open 2019, AIR Gallery, Manchester
+2019 RA Summer Show, Royal Academy of Art, London
+2019 Change, Hundred Years Gallery, London
+2019 Micro, AIR Gallery, Manchester
+2019 TROPE, Serf, Leeds
+2019 LOVE, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2019 Pulling Teeth, ASC Gallery, London
+2018 Turps Studio Painters, Paul Stolper, London
+2018 Set 24, The Art Academy, London
+2018 CHAIN, The Library of China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing
+2018 Artist of the Day 24th edition (Day 9), Flowers Gallery, London
+2018 Beijing Summer Exhibition 18, NL Gallery, Beijing
+2018 Picnic, Subsidiary Projects, London
+2017 Glutted: 7 Artists 24 Hours, 392 Grove Green Road, London
+2017 Wimbledon College Undergraduate Summer Show, UAL, London
+2017 Landscapes of the Mind & Earth, Conference Centre Gallery, St Pancras Hospital, London
+2017 Currents of Identity, The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras Church, London
+2017 To Be Continued…, Gallery of the College of Arts, Huabei University of Science & Technology Tangshan, China
+2017 109 Nails, Copeland Park, London
+2017 8th edition of Loudest Whispers, Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital, London
+2016 Exhibit Here Summer Exhibition, Menier Gallery, London
+2015 Interrogating The Soul, SAFEHOUSE 1, London
+2015 Contemporary Art, Forme Trinity @ This Is Art Gallery, London
+2014 Summer Edit, Moreton Gallery, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire
+2013 Summer Foundation Course Show, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2013 Zhe:[noun] Undefined, Soho Theatre, London
+2013 4th edition of Loudest Whispers, Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital, London
COLLECTIONS
+The Deighton Foundation, UK
+The Indigo Collection, UK
+The Lougher Contemporary, UK
+The Roberts Institute of Art, UK
+2021-18 MFA Painting, Slade School of Art, University College London
+2018-17 Painters Studio Programme, Turps Art School, London
+2017-14 BA (Hons) Fine Art: Painting, Wimbledon College of Arts, University of the Arts London
+1997-95 Drama, Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA South), London
RESIDENCIES
+2023 The Chalet Creative Residency, Sigriswil, Switzerland
+2022 The Vannucci Artist Residency, Città della Pieve, Italy
+2021 Silver Art Projects Digital Residency, New York, USA
PRIZES / SHORTLISTS
+2024 Apollo’s Decathlon – A Cultural Olympiad (Shortlist)
+2023 Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (Shortlist)
+2022 New Contemporaries (shortlist)
+2021 Chadwell Award (shortlist)
+2018 Felix Slade Scholarship, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
+2023 If Only, Time Were Ours To Spend, Again, curation by Christian Dominguez, Kunstverein Dresden (Art Association Dresden), Dresden
+2023 What Birds Plunge Through Is Not The Intimate Space, Guts Gallery, London
+2023 Nothing is Absolute, Flowers Gallery, London
+2022 People Trust People Who Look Like Them, Flowers Gallery, London
+2020 Champagne tastes on beer money, Guts Gallery, London
+2018 Give Me Your Hand So That I May Not Be Alone, 48 Woodstock Road, London
TWO ARTIST SHOW
+2021 Tomorrow Will Be The Most Beautiful Day Of Your Life, with Xu Yang, Studio West, London
+2021 You Can Tell Me, with Marla Bendini, curation by John Silvis, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
+2025 Opens 22nd February – Transfeminisms, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Arizona
+2024 Opens August – Fundraiser, Hospital Rooms @ Hauser & Wirth, London
+2024 Transfeminisms Chapter III, Mimosa House, London
+2024 Artist of the Day Archive, Flowers Gallery, London
+2024 Apollo’s Decathlon – A Cultural Olympiad, Château de Montsoreau–Museum of Contemporary Art, Montsoreau
+2024 Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London
+2024 Beyond the Looking Glass, galerie lange + pult, Zürich
+2024 The Arcadian Dream, SPURS Gallery, Beijing
+2024 Present Tense, Hauser & Wirth, Somerset
+2023 Last Tango Fundraising Auction, Last Tango Kunstverein Zurich (Last Tango Art Association Zurich), Zurich
+2023 The Cult of Beauty, Wellcome Collection, London
+2023 Self Portrait Prize 2023, The Atkinson Museum, Southport
+2023 Holding Space, Hospital Rooms at Hauser & Wirth, London
+2023 Bee Garden Party Fundraiser Postcard Art Auction, Bees for Development, Marlborough House, London
+2023 The object stares back, Tube Culture Hall, Milan
+2023 Positions Part 1, Alma Pearl, London
+2023 (It’s My Party) I Can Cry If I Want To, Guts Gallery, London
+2022 Small is Beautiful 40th edition, Flowers Gallery, London
+2022 Combat Stress Charity, Bankside Gallery, London and Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow
+2022 New Romantics, The Artist Room x Phillips at Lee Eugean Gallery, Seoul
+2022 Like there is hope and I can dream of another world, Hospital Rooms at Hauser & Wirth, London
+2022 The Amber Room by Rosie Reed, Reference Point, London
+2022 Art On A Postcard: International Women’s Day, Bomb Factory Gallery, London
+2022 An Ode to Orlando, Marcelle Joseph Projects @ Pi Artworks, London
+2021 Invisible Dragon, Cedric Bardawil, London
+2021 Small is Beautiful 39th edition, Flowers Gallery, London
+2021 ING Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London
+2021 LONDON GRADS NOW. 21, Saatchi Gallery, London
+2021 Collection, Sixty Six London, London
+2021 Yield, No 20 Arts, London
+2021 A New Art World, Guts Gallery, London
+2021 Slade Postgraduate Fine Art Degree Show, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2021 Every Woman Biennial London: My love is Your Love, Copeland Gallery, London
+2021 ANOTHER FIGURE, Silvis Contemporary, Online
+2021 TRANSCENDENTAL, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
+2021 When Snowdrops Rise, MAPA Fine Art, online
+2021 New Futures Digital: Slade, Kovet.art Gallery, Online
+2021 Redirecting, Tree Art Museum, Beijing
+2020 PAPA RAGAZZE, Nicodim Gallery, Los Angeles
+2020 the tales we tell ourselves, Purslane Gallery, online
+2020 TwentyTwenty Women, Artistellar Gallery, online
+2020 RA Summer (Winter) Show, Royal Academy of Art, London
+2020 A Rudimentary Education, Art Lacuna, London
+2020 LONDON GRADS NOW., Saatchi Gallery, London
+2020 RCA & SLADE Graduate Showcase, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London
+2020 Begin Again, Guts Gallery, online show via instagram
+2020 Tomorrow: London (week 3 of 4), White Cube Gallery, London
+2020 Trans-Identity: Body, Soul and Time, NoSpace Organisation, online show via instagram and NoSpace WeChat Official
+2020 When Shit Hits the Fan, Guts Gallery, online show via instagram
+2019 Little Originals exhibition, Dock Street Studios, Dundee
+2019 Annual Open Exhibition 2019, The South West Academy of Fine and Applied Arts @ Exeter Castle, Devon
+2019 Graduate Interim Show, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2019 Beautiful China, Beautiful World: Golden Era of China-UK, China Pictorial & UK-China Photography Association @ Central Hall Westminster, London and Charing Cross Library, London
+2019 On the Mountain We Stay, supported by No Space in Zichuan district, Zibo city, Shandong province, China
+2019 AIR Open 2019, AIR Gallery, Manchester
+2019 RA Summer Show, Royal Academy of Art, London
+2019 Change, Hundred Years Gallery, London
+2019 Micro, AIR Gallery, Manchester
+2019 TROPE, Serf, Leeds
+2019 LOVE, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2019 Pulling Teeth, ASC Gallery, London
+2018 Turps Studio Painters, Paul Stolper, London
+2018 Set 24, The Art Academy, London
+2018 CHAIN, The Library of China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing
+2018 Artist of the Day 24th edition (Day 9), Flowers Gallery, London
+2018 Beijing Summer Exhibition 18, NL Gallery, Beijing
+2018 Picnic, Subsidiary Projects, London
+2017 Glutted: 7 Artists 24 Hours, 392 Grove Green Road, London
+2017 Wimbledon College Undergraduate Summer Show, UAL, London
+2017 Landscapes of the Mind & Earth, Conference Centre Gallery, St Pancras Hospital, London
+2017 Currents of Identity, The Crypt Gallery, St Pancras Church, London
+2017 To Be Continued…, Gallery of the College of Arts, Huabei University of Science & Technology Tangshan, China
+2017 109 Nails, Copeland Park, London
+2017 8th edition of Loudest Whispers, Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital, London
+2016 Exhibit Here Summer Exhibition, Menier Gallery, London
+2015 Interrogating The Soul, SAFEHOUSE 1, London
+2015 Contemporary Art, Forme Trinity @ This Is Art Gallery, London
+2014 Summer Edit, Moreton Gallery, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire
+2013 Summer Foundation Course Show, Slade School of Art (UCL), London
+2013 Zhe:[noun] Undefined, Soho Theatre, London
+2013 4th edition of Loudest Whispers, Conference Centre, St Pancras Hospital, London
COLLECTIONS
+The Deighton Foundation, UK
+The Indigo Collection, UK
+The Lougher Contemporary, UK
+The Roberts Institute of Art, UK
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