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Dr Bren Unwin PPRE, Hon.RWS, PhD, MA (Research), BA (Hons.), NSA

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Bren Unwin’s work considers the reciprocal relationship between an active perceiver and their dynamic environment. Taking an exploratory and often intuitive approach, meaning in Unwin's artwork emerges through the infinite potential of actions, ideas, materials, research and engagement.  

 

Past President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and a Fellow of the Newlyn Society of Artists, Unwin’s work is held in many international collections including the British Museum, London; the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and the Royal Collection of his Majesty the King.  She was awarded the Gwen May Graduate Prize by the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 2004 and a PhD in 2008 by the University of Hertfordshire for her work on landscape experience and Fine Art Practice.

Phenomenology and Landscape Experience: a critical appraisal for contemporary art practice

Bren Unwin 2008

Personal statement
My father instilled in me a love of process, materials and making things.  Childhood holidays at Cape Cornwall led to me living and working in St Just-in-Penwith and being part of the Cape Cornwall NCI Coastwatch team. Solitary hours spent keeping an eye on shipping and wildlife, along with the surrounding tin-mine littered landscape, nourished my work. The mark-making and ways of working that I developed during this period of my life continue to influence my work today. Being part of such a rich and diverse artistic community was very special and I remain a Fellow of the Newlyn Society of Artists.

I am interested in how we experience our environment, and how that experience might be revealed in art practice. This has led me into many adventures across the globe. Each new work informs the next piece, as well as holding traces of a multitude of past experiences and influences. Observations and feelings feed into the work over a prolonged period; layers are built, removed, built again, reorganised. By these repeated actions, the work eventually takes on its own voice, unfolding over time, rather like a piece of music.

 

Awards and Appointments

2011   Elected President of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers

2009 Awarded Fenton Arts Prize

2008 Awarded PhD in Fine Art and The Chancellor’s Medal for outstanding doctoral research, University of Hertfordshire

2004 Awarded the Gwen May Student Prize by Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers

2004 Awarded MA (research) Fine Art by University of Hertfordshire

2003 Elected Fellow of Newlyn Society of Artists

2002 Awarded BA(Hons) Fine Art by University of Hertfordshire

Selected exhibitions

2024 International Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London 7 - 17th November

2024 International Mini Print CantabriaCantabria, Spain, From 1st September 2024

2024 Small but Mighty, Bankside Gallery, London 

2024 44th Miniprint International of Cadaques, Cadaques, Spain, 

2024 RE Original Prints, Bankside Gallery, London 

2024 London Original Print Fair, Somerset House, Strand, London

2024 Mini Picture Show, Bankside Gallery, London

2023 Small but mighty, Bankside Gallery, London 

2023 International Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London 

2023 Bankside Summer Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London 

2023 43rd Miniprint International of Cadaques, Cadaques, Spain 

2023 Colección Miniprint Cantabria, Castle Lighthouse, Cantabria, Spain 

2023 RE Original Prints 2023, Bankside Gallery, London

2023 Engage, Newlyn Society of Artists, Tremenheere Sculpture Park,        

          Cornwall

2023 Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 2023, Mall Galleries,        

          London

2023 London Original Print Fair, Somerset House, London

2023 Mini Picture Show, Bankside Gallery, London 

2022 International Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

2022 International Mini-print Cantabria, V edition, Santander, Spain

2022 Summer at Bankside Gallery, Bankside Gallery, London

2022 London Lives, Bankside Gallery, London

2022 42nd Mini Print International of Cadaques, Cadaques, Spain

2022 London Original Print Fair, Somerset House, London

2022 RE Original Prints Exhibition, Bankside Gallery,  London 

2021 International Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

2021 Print REbels  at the City Assembly House, Dublin

2021 Summer at Bankside Gallery, Bankside Gallery, London

2021  Looking forwardNewlyn Society of Artists, Tremenheere Gallery, Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Gulval, Penzance, Cornwall

2021 The 41st Mini Print International of Cadaqués, Taller Galeria Fort in Cadaqués

2021 Collection Mini Print Cantabria, La Mer et les Phares a Bordeaux, Cervantes Institute, Bordeaux, France                  

2021 RE Original Prints Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London 

2020 New Work by the RE: Printmakers during Lockdown​, Bankside Gallery, London 

2020 Mini Print International Cantabria III Edition, Spain 

2020 Summer at Bankside Gallery, Bankside Gallery, London 

2019 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2019 RE Original Prints, Bankside Gallery, London

2019 The Mini Picture Show, Bankside Gallery, London

2019 National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

2018 Cambridge Print Biennale, The Pitt Building, Cambridge

2018 Print REbels, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

2018 IMPACT 10, International Printmaking Conference, Santander, Spain

2018 London Original print Fair, The Royal Academy, London

2018 Chapel Arts, Cheltenham

2018 Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London

2018 National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

2018, The Burton Gallery, Bideford, Devon

2018 The Masters Screen and Stone, Bankside Gallery, London

2018 Off the wall, Bankside Gallery, London

2018 RE Summer Show, 'For Arts Sake', Ealing, London

2018 Print REbels, Bankside Gallery, London

2018 RE Originals, Bankside Gallery, London

2017 The Masters: Monoprint, Bankside Gallery, London

2017 Off the wall, Bankside Gallery, London

2017 Shakespeare: a celebration, RWS and RE Collaborative at California Lutheran University

2017  RE Originals, Bankside Gallery, London

2017 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2016 Cambridge Original Printmaking Biennale, The Pitt Building, Cambridge

2016 The Masters: Intaglio, Bankside Gallery, London

2016 Mini-print Cadaques, Cadaques, Spain

2016 RE Originals, Bankside Gallery, London

2016 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2015 National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

2015 The Masters: Relief, Bankside Gallery, London

2015 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2014 RE Originals, Bankside Gallery, London

2014 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2013 Reigning cats and dogs, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2013 Works on paper, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2013 A Lasting Impression, The Mariners' Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall

2013 Impressit, University of Central Lancashire at Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston

2013 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2013 The sketchbook show, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2012 Ian Brown and Bren Unwin - Layer, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Cornwall

2012 Fabric of the land, The Lang Byre Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland

2012 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2012 8th British International Mini-print Exhibition, London Print Studio, London

2011 Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford, Devon

2011 PRINT! Exchange Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2011  The Mini Picture Show, Bankside Gallery, London

2011 Uncharted Landscapes, Newlyn Society of Artists, St Ives, Cornwall

2011 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2010 Bren Unwin: Dog in the Attic, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2010 Penang International Print Exhibition, Penang State Museum and Art Gallery, Penang, Malaysia

2010 Off the wall, Bankside Gallery, London

2010 ART75, Jubilee Pool, Penzance, Cornwall

2010 Double Vision, The Exchange Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2010 Origin of Colour: Fabric of the Land, University of Aberdeen, Scotland

2009 IMPACT  6, international printmaking conference, University of the West of England, Bristol

2009 A Cornish Perspective, The Royal West of England Academy, Bristol

2009 London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, London

2008 Rahimtulla Gallery, RaMoMa Museum of Modern Art, Nairobi

2008 Bren Unwin, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2008  Summer in the City, Bankside Gallery, London

2008 PRESS, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2007 My Cornwall, Cornwall Contemporary Gallery, Penzance, Cornwall

2007  A leaf from a sketch book, Bankside Gallery, London

2007 The Great Atlantic Gallery, Falmouth, Cornwall

2007 The Great Atlantic Gallery, St Just, Cornwall

2007 Lineage, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall

2006 Originals 06, The Mall Galleries, London

2006 The Newlyn Society of Artists Annual Exhibition, Penzance, Cornwall

2006 Inside, outside, Bankside Gallery, London

2006 The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Annual Exhibition, London

2005 Bren Unwin, North End, Gallery Tresco, Isles of Scilly

2005  Hertfordshire Open Exhibition, Margaret Harvey Gallery, St Albans, Herts

2005 Critic's Choice, selected by Nicholas Usherwood , The Campden Gallery, Chipping Campden,              Gloucestershire

2005 Discerning Eye exhibition, selected by Joan Bakewell,  The Mall Galleries,London

2005 Critic's Choice, selected by Norbert Lynton, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall

2005 Bryan Pearce, Breon O'Casey and Bren Unwin, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall

2005 Identity, The Great Atlantic Gallery, Falmouth, Cornwall

2005 Originals 05, The Mall Galleries, London

2005, The Great Atlantic GalleryMonmouth

2005 The Penwith Society Winter Exhibition, St Ives, Cornwall

2004 Gallery Tresco, Isles of Scilly

2004  Little by Little, The Great Atlantic Gallery, St Just, Cornwall

2004 Anthony Frost, Anja Percival and Bren Unwin, The Great Atlantic Gallery, St Just, Cornwall

2004 The Penwith Society Summer Exhibition, St Ives, Cornwall

2004 The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers Annual Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London

2004 Critic's Choice, selected by John Russell-Taylor, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newly, Cornwall

2004 Here comes the sun, Touring exhibition by Great Atlantic Map Works Gallery and Falmouth Arts Centre

2004 Adams and Unwin, University of Hertfordshire Gallery, Hatfield, Herts

2004 Identity, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall

2003 Weather Report 2, Newlyn Art Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall

2003 Bren Unwin, Intimate Landscape, The Great Atlantic Gallery, St Just, Cornwall

2003 Critic's Choice, selected by Joan Bakewell, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall

2003 The Contemporary Gallery, Lavenham, Suffolk

2002  National Print Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London

2001 The Penwith Society Summer Exhibition, St Ives, Cornwall

2001 Bren Unwin, The Great Atlantic Gallery, Market Square, St Just, Cornwall

2001 Bren Unwin and Michael Wright, The Netloft Gallery, Porthleven, Cornwall

2001 Bren Unwin and John Adams, The Place, Letchworth, Herts

2001  The Contemporary Gallery, Lavenham, Suffolk

2001 Hertfordshire Open Exhibition, Margaret Harvey Gallery, St Albans, Herts

2000 Bren Unwin - Silent Vigil, The Netloft Gallery, Porthleven, Cornwall

2000 National Print Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London

2000 University of Hertfordshire Winter Exhibition, Hatfield, Herts

2000 The Great Atlantic Gallery, St Just, Cornwall

1999 The Roundhouse Gallery, Sennen, Cornwall

1999 Out of the Blue Gallery, Marazion, Cornwall

1999 Porthcurno GalleryPorthcurno, Cornwall

1999 The Great Atlantic Gallery, St Just, Cornwall

1999 Bren Unwin and John Adams, The Maltings Gallery, Wheathampstead, Herts 

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