Lindsay Mapes
Degree: MFA
University: Slade
Graduation Year: 2010
New Blood Art Commentary
Lindsay Mapes' work embodies the raw, unfiltered experience of life, channeling its beauty, chaos, and contradictions into every piece she creates. Through an intuitive and expressive approach, Lindsay transforms mistakes and imperfections into vital elements of her art, much like the Japanese practice of kintsugi - where flaws are mended with gold, becoming part of the object’s story.
Mapes embraces an openhearted and vulnerable process, allowing the messiness of her materials - and life itself - to remain visible. Her work is deeply informed by her experiences of parenthood, which she describes as encompassing:
“realness, messiness, colour, brightness, boldness, joy, sadness, loneliness, and dangers.”
These themes flow through her pieces, creating a profound connection to the raw beauty and complexity of human experience.
A New Blood Art Masters Artist and with her work celebrated in a major TV documentary and exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Mapes is a distinctive voice in contemporary art. Her ability to balance playfulness with depth, joy with rawness, and chaos with harmony elevates her practice, creating work that transforms spaces.
To live with Lindsay Mapes’ work in your home is to invite the energy of aliveness, honesty, and transformation into your space - a celebration of the beautiful imperfection of life.
Lindsay was selected for a documentary called ‘Looking for Picasso’. 12 artists from around the world were chosen. An American production, (she is episode 2).
Read: A Desire for Truth / See Investable Artists 2023 / Investment tip 2023 / Investable Artists / See Investment Tip / See inside the studio / View artwork in-situ
Artist Statement
Originally from the USA, I studied Painting at San Francisco Art Institute (1996–2000) and Studio Arts Centre International, Florence (2006–07). I then went on to study for my MFA in Painting at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London (2008–10). Since then I have been based in London and Italy. I am currently enrolled in Turps Off-Site Studio Programme 2021-2023.
My work explores themes of truth. The truth about painting. The truth about surface. The truth about making and the process that evolves around that. Mistakes are made and left on view. The rawness of the material is just as active as the paint floating or sinking on/into the surface. I am intrigued by repetition of mark making in all its forms, from the contour line of a figure to the patterns of textiles recreated with paint or the sewing of wool through and around the surface. Color is the focus point of my work, understanding how these combinations melt together or scream in separation. Creating space and openness in the work lets each object be itself. There is evidence of traces by previous mark-marking, revealing the changes made during the painting process. In this way, I examine how a thought process can be realized in paint and form.
Solo Exhibitions
(2018) Colore, SACI Gallery, Florence, Italy
(2014) Show in a Box, Artbeef/Beefhaus Gallery, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A
Group Exhibitions
(2024) Cat Flap Blink, Terrace Gallery, London, UK.
(2024) SNAG, Terrace Gallery, London, UK.
(2024) Blink, Safehouse 1, London, UK.
(2023) MELT, Hypha Studios & Creative Land Trust, Frieze London
(2023) A Little Closer, Aleph Contemporary, The Bindery, London, UK
(2023) The Goddesses (A Love Explosion), Terrace Gallery, London, UK
(2023) Turps Off-Site, Thames-Side Studios Gallery, London, UK
(2023) Awkward Magnificance, Space HQ, London, UK
(2023) RAW, Atrium Space Barbican Arts Group Trust, London, UK
(2023) Playground Twist, Bermondsey Project Space, London, UK
(2023) ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
(2023) Goddesses on The Sea, The Lido Stores, Margate
(2023) Free Art School E20, Hypha Studios East, London
(2023) Blink, Safehouse 1, London, UK
(2022) Contemporary British Painting Prize, Thames-Side Studio Gallery, London, UK.
(2022) Art on a Postcard, Art on a Postcard, United Kingdom
(2022) Telling Tales, Lea Bridge Library, London
(2022) The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The RA, London, UK
(2022) All the same age at different times, The Fitzrovia Gallery, London, UK
(2019) New Beginnings-Expression, Porthminster Gallery, St. Ives
(2018) 31 Women, TOAF (curated by Kate Bryan), Los Angeles
(2018) The Other Art Fair, Barker Hangar, Los Angeles
(2017) The Other Art Fair, Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, London
(2016) The Marmite Prize for Painting V, Block 336, Uk and Ireland
(2016) The Other Art Fair, The Victoria House, London, UK
(2015) 43 Brick Lane, Partisan Gallery, London, UK
(2015) The Other Art Fair, The Victoria House, London, UK
(2014) Pentimenti, Maybe a Vole Gallery, London, UK
(2014) Keep your Eye on the Doughnut, The Printhouse Gallery, London, UK
(2014) Sunday Salon, Oakley Road Project Space, London, UK
(2012) Contemporary Visions, Beers Contemporary, London, UK
(2011) 26, LeandaKateLouise, London, UK
(2011) Play Dead, Bows and Arrows Gallery, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A
(2010) Slade Degree Show, UCL, London, UK
(2010) Test Bed, Battersea, London, UK
(2010) Shows 1-10, LeandaKateLouise, London, UK
(2009) Make it, pack it, Print it, Ship it, Pop Up Gallery, London, UK
(2009) Slade Interim Show, UCL, London, UK
(2007) Dialoghi, Multi Cure de Arte, Florence, Italy
(2007) Piano Piano, SACI, Florence, Italy
(2006) Welcome Home, Private, Florence, Italy
Competitions, Prizes & Awards
(2016) The Marmite Prize for Painting V
(2016) The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (shortlisted)
(2015) Tomorrow&Today Feature
(2014) Art Wednesday Feature
(2014) Headlands Center for the Arts (shortlisted)
(2013) The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition (shortlisted)
(2012) The Marmite Prize for Painting (shortlisted)
(2012) Jerwood Painting Fellowship (shortlisted)
(2006) Primo Internazioanle Di Scultura
(2006) Edgardo Mannucci, prize purchase and SACI award
(2019) Trelex Residency, Switzerland
(2019) British VOGUE Art Gallery (Oct. Nov. Dec.)
(2022) The Contemporary British Painting Prize
