Margaret Ashman
Chester
I am a fine artist specialising in Printmaking. My work is concerned with sign language, gesture and dance, based on models performing in the studio.
Margaret’s work is an enquiry into the emotional side of human relationships and the inner, spiritual dimension of living. She makes works that engage, sometimes to elicit a dramatic, visceral, emotional reaction, sometimes to provoke in a gentler, more thoughtful way. She works from photographs of Deaf people using sign language. She is interested in the way that meaning becomes lost as words are translated into sign and then into a still image on paper. Sometimes she gives her models texts to sign, or simply allows them to communicate as they wish. The deficiency of trying to capture time based signs with still photography results in communication ambiguity if not total breakdown. Some of her works are life size images of people, caught mid- frame, in the extremes of emotion. Digital photography can capture micro-expressions – very short-lived facial expressions, normally hidden, which may appear to show the opposite emotion that the person is feeling. These works are dark and dramatic but as you get closer to them, the image becomes more ambiguous then breaks up and almost disappears. Other works feature groups of people signing or combined images of Deaf people with imagined elements such as flowers. They are a visualisation of the spiritual, inner realm.. This work is about consciousness and unconsciousness, about the self and our image of ourselves.
Qualifications and training
2010 - Elected to Fellowship of Royal Society of Painter Printmakers, RE, Bankside Gallery
2006 - City and Guilds Certificate in Further Education Teaching Stage 1, Kensington and Chelsea College, Wornington Road
2005 - MA Printmaking and Professional Practice, in assoc with London Print Studio, University of Brighton, Brighton
2003 - BA Fine Art, University of Hertfordshire
1980 - MA Physics, Oxford University, Oxford
Solo and Two Person exhibitions
2022 Breaking Bread, Solo Show, The Swiss Church, London
2019 Higher Ground, Solo Show, The Muse Gallery, London
2018 - Embodying Gesture, with Rod McIntosh, The Muse Gallery, London
2009 - Con Fuoco, Hepsibah Gallery, London
2008 - A Time to Dance, Hepsibah Gallery, Hammersmith
2006 - Solo Exhibition, Hepsibah Gallery, Hammersmith
2006 - Under One Sky, Kodak Recreation Group, Harrow
2003 - Margaret Ashman, Fovea Gallery, West Harrow
2001 - Margaret Ashman, The Radlett Centre, Hertfordshire
Group exhibitions
2019
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York
PrintFest, Algarden, Boras, Sweden
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Flow, Gallery 57, Arundel
A Silent Space Between, Gallery 57, Arundel
RE Original Prints, Bankside Gallery
London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy
Journeys, Printmakers Council, Touring Exhibition
2018
Light/Matter: Art at the Intersection of Photography and Printmaking, 1954 - 2017, University of Alberta, Edmonton, May 8th - June 2nd
Impress III, The Gallery, Fisherton Mill, Salisbury April 7th - May 19th
2017
International Contemporary Print Show, Gallery Sugino, Tokyo
Light/Matter: Art at the Intersection of Photography and Printmaking, 1954 - 2017, Grunwald Gallery, Indiana University, IN, USA
Capturing Movement: Art and Contemporary Dance, University of Kent
Japan/UK Printmakers:Poetry of Place, The Koppel Project Gallery, London W1
Contemporary art Exhibition with Hornshaw Gallery, A&D Gallery, Marylebone
Off the Wall, Bankside Gallery, London
London Print Studio Summer Exhibition
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition
RE Original Prints
Shakespeare: A Celebration, William Roland Gallery of Fine Art, California Lutheran University, CA, USA
Affordable Art Fair, Hampstead
London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy, London
Crossing the Tees, North East
Open Studio, Park Studios, London
Lasting Impressions: A Selection of works from the Printmakers Council Archive
Incisioni Al Feminile, Atlelier Controsegno, Pozzuoli, Italy
Shape Open, Ecology Pavilion, Mile End, London
Pushing Boundaries, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise, Ireland
2016
Loosely Bound, HLSI, Highgate and Printroom Studio, Suffolk
Pushing Boundaries, Farmleigh Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
The Masters, Bankside Gallery
National Original Print Exhibition, London
A Taste of Printroom, Printroom, Suffolk
LOOP, Bankside Gallery,
In Two Parts, Lombard Gallery, Margate
Off the Wall, Bankside Gallery
Celebrating Shakespeare, Bankside Gallery
Members Summer Exhibition, London Print Studio
Contemporary Prints by the RE, For Arts Sake, Ealing
RE Originals, Bankside Gallery
London Original Print Fair, London
Shifting Subjects (film), Usher Gallery, Lincoln
Invited Artist, 8th International Print Biennial, Douro
4th Art at Wharepuke Open Printmaking Show, Kerikeri, New Zealand
2015
Fifty Years of Artists Prints, Bankside Gallery
Parallel Prints, Art Gallery of Ballarat, Australia
Multiplied, Christies
7th Splitgraphic Biennial, Old Town Hall, Split
National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery
Shifting Subjects, Abbey Walk Gallery
Print Exhibition Burton Art Gallery and Museum, Bideford
St Barbes Museum, Lymington
Off the Wall, Bankside Gallery
Affordable Art Fair Hampstead
Open Studios, Park Studios, Finsbury Park
50:50, New Ashgate Gallery
Good Figures, The Downland Jerwood Gridshell, West Sussex
London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy
Imprint, Wetpaint Gallery, Cirencester
Good Figures, Mall Galleries
Works on Paper, Barbican Library
2014
3rd Shanghai International Printmaking Exhibition, China Art Museum, Shanghai
Abbey Walk Gallery Winter Exhibition
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition
National Original Print Exhibition
CMYK, Pie Factory, Margate
Connections, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
Off the Wall, Bankside Gallery
Parallel Prints, Jinling Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Parallel Prints, Galerie Apart, Le Bourg Marcilhac -sur- Cele, France
Saxons meeting Saxons, Dresden, Germany
Invited Artist 7th International Biennial, Douro 2014
Towry Art Evening
Affordable Art Fair Hampstead
Bainbridge Open Exhibition
RE Original Prints
London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy
Freshly Pressed, Clerkenwell
Mini Picture Show, Bankside Gallery
2013 - Multiplied, Christies, Global Print, Douro, Ten, Bankside Gallery, Pushing Print, Margate, Parallel Print Project, Print Fusion, Edinburgh, Guanlan Biennial Additional Biennial, London Original Print Fair, Photographics, Great Western Studios, Fresh Intelligence, Bristol, Lps Featured, London
2012 -Fifth Beijing International Art Biennial, Lingshi Print Bienniale, China, Multiplied, Christies, Tokyo Prints, Bite, Mall Galleries, Head and Whole 2 Abbey Walk Gallery, North Lincolnshire Print Open
2011 - 3rd Guanlan International Print Biennial, Guanlan Print Base, China
2011 - A4 Printmakers Open, Poly Arts Centre, Falmouth
2011 - BITE: Artists Making Prints, Mall Galleries, London
2011 - Contemporary Prints by Printmakers Council, Acquire Arts, London
2011 - Eastern Light, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, London
2011 - Head and Whole, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby
2011 - Inspired by the Orient, Obsidian Art, Aylesbury
2011 - Parallax Art Fair, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London
2011 - Portraiture Unraveled, Lloyd Gill Gallery, Weston-super-mare
2011 - Press Freedom, The Station, Richmond
2011 - Print & Design NOW!, SW1 Gallery, London
2011 - RE Summer Show, Bankside Gallery, London
2011 - Second Edition, National Theatre, London
2011 - The Affordable Art Fair, Whitewall Partners, London
2011 - The Mini Picture Show, Bankside Gallery, London
2011 - Untitled, Vyner Street Gallery, London 2010 - 2nd International Print Biennial, Penang Art Museum, Malaysia
2010 - Bienial Internacional de Gravura, Douro Art Museum, Portugal
2010 - Christmas Contemporaries, Collyer Bristow, London
2010 - Exchange 7, Print Zero Studios, Seattle
2010 - ING Discerning Eye , Mall Galleries, London
2010 - International Print Triennial , Stadtmuseum, Oldenburg
2010 - London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy, London
2010 - Multiple Matters - Graphic Concepts, Vienna Museum, Vienna
2010 - New Season: Flight, Caxton Contemporary, Whitstable
2010 - Off the Wall, Bankside Gallery, London
2010 - Originals 10, Mall Galleries, London
2010 - Print Now, Bearspace, London Art Fair, Islington, London
2010 - Printmakers Council Exhibition, Solander Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
2010 - Pushing Print, Venues in Margate, Margate
2009 - 2nd International Print Biennial, Guanlan Original Print Base, China
2009 - 7th British International Mini Print Exhibition, London Print Studio and touring, London 2009 - 7th International Biennial of Engraving, Museum of Modern Art, Liege, Belgium
2009 - Centrepiece, Spike Island, Open Impact 6, Bristol
2009 - International Graphic Art Biennial, Split Museum, Split, Croatia
2009 - International Print Triennial MTG-Krakow, Bunkier Sztuki, Krakow, Poland
2009 - International Prints Exhibition and Festival, Quijiang, China
2009 - Lasting Impressions, National Theatre, South Bank, London
2009 - London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy, Piccadilly
2009 - Originals 09: The Contemporary Printmaking Show, Mall Galleries, The Mall, London 2009 - Pierre Press and Printmakers Council, Marcilhac-sur-Cele, France
2009 - Print ArtTriennial, Rondo Sztuki, Katowice, Poland
2009 - Print or Photography, Contemporary Art Gallery, Opole, Poland
2009 - Printmakers Council Exhibition, Art at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, New Zealand
2009 - Thirty Years/Thirty Artists, Oxo Gallery, South Bank, London
2009 - Vision/Division, All Saints, Harrow, Harrow
2008 - British Printmakers, Obsidian Art, Aylesbury
2008 - London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy, Burlington Gardens
2008 - Originals O8, Mall Galleries, London
2008 - Personal Journeys, Letchworth Arts Centre, Letchworth
2008 - Print Perspectives, Caxton Contemporary, Whitstable
2008 - RE Annual Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London
2008 - RE exchange exhibition, Museum of Modern Art, Nairobi
2008 - The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London
2008 - The Americas Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Prints, Ohio University and touring, USA 2008 - Through The Lens, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2007 - 20 Impressions, Oxo Gallery, Oxo Tower, South Bank
2007 - 6th Lessedra Print Annual, Lessedra Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2007 - A Leaf from a Sketchbook, Bankside Gallery, Hopton Street, London SE1
2007 - Guanlan International Print Biennale, Shenzen University, Shenzen, China
2007 - I Love Print, London Print Studio, London Print Studio Gallery, London W10
2007 - Multiple Views, The Ropewalk, Barton on Humber, Lincolnshire
2007 - RE Annual Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, Hopton Street
2007 - Skylark Gallery stand, Affordable Art Fair, Bristol
2007 - The Portrait in Print, Clifford Chance, Canary Wharf
2006 - 5TH Lessedra World Art Print Annual 2006, Lessedra Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
2006 - 6th British International Miniature Print Exhibition, Gracefield Art Centre, Ards Arts Centre, St Fergus Gallery, various locations in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, England
2006 - Contemporary Prints, Printmakers Council Exhibition, Chatham Art Centre, Chatham, Kent
2006 - Harrow Contemporary, London Gallery West, University of Westminster, Harrow Campus
2006 - Originals 06, Mall Galleries, The Mall
2005 - Aspects of Print, Swiss Cottage Gallery, Swiss Cottage
2005 - Contemporary Prints 3, London Print Studio, london, W10
2005 - Originals 05: The Contemporary Print Making Show, Mall Galleries, London
2005 - Wayzgoose, The Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond
2005 - World Art Print Annual, National Palace of Culture, Sofia, Bulgaria
2004 - Contemporary Prints, London Print Studio, London
2004 - Network AD Summer Exhibition, The Candid Arts Trust, London
2004 - Originals 04: The Contemporary Print Making show, Mall Galleries, London
2004 - The Art of Love, Cork Street, London
2004 - The Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London
2004 - Two-Man Show, St.Albans Cathedral, North Transept, St Albans
Curated projects
2011 - Head and Whole, Abbey Walk Gallery, Grimsby
2011 - Portraiture Unraveled, Lloyd Gill Gallery, Weston-super-mare
Workshops
2003 - Harrow Art Festival, Harrow
2001 - Oxford Kilburn Club, Oxford
1985 - Youth Worker, Oxford Kilburn Club, Oxford
Residencies
2009 - Artist-in-residence, Guanlan Original Print Base, Shenzhen, China
2008 - Printmaking, Harlow College, Essex
Competitions, prizes and awards
2017 Winner London Print Studio Summer Exhibition
2015 Arts Council Commission for Shifting Subjects
2012 Intaglio Printmaker Award, RE Annual Members' Exhibition, Bankside Gallery
2011 - International Print Prize, 3rd Guanlan Print Biennial, Guanlan Print Base, China
2010 - Finalist, Art of Giving, Saatchi Gallery, London
2007 - Election to Associate Membership of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers, RE, Bankside Gallery, 48, Hopton Street, London, SE1 9JH
2006 - St Mary's Stations of the Cross Commission Competition Runner Up, St Mary's Church, Stoke Newington
2005 - Mini Print Competition, winner, University of Brighton
2004 - Julian Trevelyan Memorial Award, Mall Galleries
2003 - Hertfordshire University Degree Prize, winner, Hertfordshire University, Hatfield
Become a member
We support our members with: insurance, networks, space, opportunities, R&D awards, profiling, advice and mentoring.
Become a member