Tamsin Relly’s multi-disciplinary practice includes painting, printmaking and photography. In response to the increasingly disrupted environmental conditions of a shifting global climate, her work explores the reciprocal relationship we have with our planet’s ecology and the ways in which we find connection with the living world. Recent projects consider the migration of plants and the preservation of botanical environments through conservation, urban parks and memory – be it personal, collective or held within the land.
Drawing on both found media imagery and first-hand observations, Relly works with the fluid and unpredictable qualities of her materials and processes to present impressions of natural and urban spaces in states of uncertainty or impermanence. South Africa born, Relly’s research has taken her to diverse locations including the Arctic Circle, The Eden Project in Cornwall and Las Vegas. She lives and works in London, where she received an MA in Fine Art at City & Guilds of London Art School in 2011.
Relly’s work has been exhibited and collected widely in the United Kingdom and internationally. It has been presented in group exhibitions curated by Royal Academy of Arts, Sid Motion Gallery, Informality and T J Boulting in London; SMITH, Cape Town; and Gerson Zevi, New York; and solo shows hosted by the House of St Barnabas, The Place Downstairs and Brocket Gallery in London. Her work is held in collections including Simmons Contemporary, Hogan Lovells, and the National Maritime Museum in London. Artist residencies include Arteles, Finland; RE·THINK: Environment, National Maritime Museum, London; Pocantico, Rockefeller Brother Fund, New York; and The Arctic Circle, Svalbard.
Relly has been commissioned by curatorial charity Hospital Rooms to create permanent work for locked and secure mental health units in the UK. In 2017 she donated a share of the proceeds from all her sales to World Land Trust for the purchase and protection of tropical rain forest.
EDUCATION
2011 – 2012
City & Guilds of London Art School – Masters in Fine Art.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2018
HOGCHESTER ARTS Dorset, United Kingdom
2016
SILENCE AWARENESS EXISTENCE – Arteles, Finland
2015
POCANTICO – Rockefeller Brothers Fund, New York.
RE THINK: ENVIRONMENT – National Maritime Museum, London.
2014
GERSON ZEVI LAND ART ROAD TRIP – Nervada and Utah.
THE ARCTIC CIRCLE – Svalbard, Norway.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017
FOREST MEMORY – Brocket, London.
IMAGINING THE AMAZON – The Collective, The House of St Barnabas, London. Curated by Alteria Art.
2014
JUNGLE SNOW – The Place Downstairs, London. Curated by Stuart Evans.
2012
TIPPING POINT – ASC Window Space, London.
RECENT WORK – Salon 91, Cape Town.
2007
INTERFACE – Guga S’Thebe, Langa, Cape Town.
2004
SOURCE – Sandbaai, South Africa.
1999
BENEATH THE SURFACE – Le Bon Ton, Cape Town.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
WITHIN REACH – Sid Motion Gallery, London
LIKE THERE IS HOPE & I CAN DREAM OF ANOTHER WORLD – Hauser & Wirth X Hospital Rooms, London
REGENERATION – Informality Gallery, Henley on Thames
GOD OF WAR – OHSH Projects, London
SOUTH BERMONDSEY ART TRAIL – OPEN STUDIOS – Cell Projects, London
WOOLWICH CONTEMPORARY PRINT FAIR – Oliver Projects, London
2021
INTO THE LIGHT OF THE PRESENT DAY – Oliver Projects, London
SOUTH BERMONDSEY ART TRAIL – OPEN STUDIOS – Cell Projects, London
ART CAR BOOT FAIR (ONLINE) – With Hospital Rooms, UK
SUMMER SHOW – Zuleika Gallery, Woodstock, Oxfordshire
RYTHM ADJUST (ONLINE) – Curated by the Breathe Project – Hannah Payne & Zanny Mellor
INSTRUCTIONS FOR WAITING (ONLINE) – Liminal Gallery, UK
2020
SUMMER ( WINTER) EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London
HOSPITAL ROOMS AUCTION – Hauser & Wirth, London
DRAWING CLOSER – Oliver Projects, London
WOOLWICH CONTEMPORARY PRINT FAIR – THE ONLINE EDITION – London
WORK ON PAPER – Blue Shop Cottage, London
SOUTH BERMONDSEY ART TRAIL – OPEN STUDIOS – Cell Projects, London
2019
POLAR WORLDS (on going) – National Maritime Museum, London.
SITE WORKS – Experimental Gallery, Cornell University, New York
ONE OF ONE – After Projects, London
HOSPITAL ROOMS AUCTION – Hauser & Wirth, London
HOSPITAL ROOMS – EXETER PHOENIX – Exeter Phoenix, Devon.
2018
POLAR WORLDS – National Maritime Museum, London.
ART FOR THE BARBICAN – The Barbican Centre, London.
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
HOSPITAL ROOMS & EILEEN SKELLERN 1 – Griffin Gallery, London.
PAPER CUTS – Kristian Day, Saatchi Gallery, London.
40° CELCIUS – ASC Gallery, London.
9 ARTISTS – Curated by Katherine Oliver, London.
SUMMER EXHIBITION – The Concept Space, London.
WOOLWICH CONTEMPORARY PRINT FAIR – London.
PLACES FACES SPACES – New Arts Project, London.
2017
PAPER CUTS – Trip Gallery, London. Curated by Kristian Day
CONTROL TO COLLAPSE – Blyth Gallery, London. Curated by Paint Union
PLANET ON FIRE – Two-person exhibition with Henry Hussey. TM Lighting, London. Curated by Jo Baring, Ingram Collection.
PIY PAINT LOUNGE – Sluice Biennal, London.
WISDOM & NATURE – PHILLIPS – London, Paris, New York.
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
A SENSE OF PLACE – Simmons Contemporary, London. Curated by Stuart Evans.
GREEN CREATES – Fundraising Auction for the Green Party of England and Wales, Hoxton Arches, London.
UNCOMMON GROUND – Royal Geographical Society, London.
WOOLWICH ORIGONAL PRINT FAIR – London.
2016
DENTONS ART PRIZE – Dentons Law Firm, London. Curated by Niamh white.
THE TERRARIUM DRAWN – Jaggedart, London. Curated by Katherine Jones.
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
ARCADIA – Smith Gallery, Cape Town.
VISTA – Coates & Scarry, London.
LONDON ART FAIR / JOHN JONES – Business Design Centre, London.
2015
WHISPERS – Ronchini Gallery, London. Curated by Adeline de Monseignat.
2014
RA ART SALES / PAINTER PRINTMAKERS – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
TIME TO HIT THE ROAD – Curated by Gerson Zevi. Leila Heller Gallery, New York.
CHRISTIE’S MULTIPLIED ART FAIR / Alteria Art – Christies, London.
PUBLISH/CURATE – T J Boulting, London
FNB JOBURG ART FAIR / Commune 1 – Johannesburg.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF ARTS IN YORKSHIRE – Zillah Bell Gallery, North Yorkshire. Curated by Norman Ackroyd.
CITY & GUILD OF LONDON ART SCHOOL – Zillah Bell Gallery, North Yorkshire.
TRACE – HONORE, Paris.
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
BAINBRIDGE OPEN – The Tea Gallery, London
LANDSCAPE TO A BLINDMAN’S EYE – Slate Projects, London.
OCEANA JUNIOR COUNCIL LAUNCH – Phillips Auction House, Curated by Stitch Projects, London.
2013
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
POP-UP at 87a LOWER MARSH – Curated by Samia Calbayrac, London.
2012
BITE – Artists Making Prints, Mall Galleries, London.
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
SHOULDER2SHOULDER – Royal Marines Barracks, London.
LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR – Royal Academy of Arts, London.
2011
POST GRADUATE PRINTMAKING IN LONDON – Clifford Chance, London.
SPACE FOR CHANGE – Parlour Gallery Project Space, London.
LET YOURSELF LOVE A WILD THING – Salon 91, Cape Town.
2010
SUMMER EXHIBITION – Vetrine Gallery, London.
2008
PLAY WITH IMAGINATION – The premises Gallery, Johannesburg.
THE BIJOU BURNDS AGAIN – Urban Contemporary Art, Cape Town.
2007
THOUGHT TRAFFIC – The premises Gallery, Johannesburg.
2006
CHOICE ASSORTMENT – WhatitheWorld, Cape Town.
UNTITLED – WhatiftheWorld, Cape Town.
2005
SPRING FLING – Whatiftheworld, Cape Town.
BLACK AND WHITE POSTER PROJECT – Dirt, Cape Town.
MEMBERS EXHIBITION – Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town.
2003
BRETT KEBBLE ART AWARDS – Cape Town.
SASOL ART AND WAX – Sasolburg, South Africa.
YDESIRE – 4rth Soft serve party, The Castle,Cape Town.
A REFLECTION OF WOMENS LIVES – Durban Art Gallery, Durban.
ICONS – Ants Nest, Cape Town.
ABSOLUTE MAGIC – Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town.
2002
WOMANS ISSUES – Durban Art Gallery, Durban.
FAMILY TREES – Bang the Gallery, Cape Town.
ABSOLUTE VOYER – Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town.
2001
THUPELO INTERNATIONAL – S A N G, Cape Town.
THUPELO REGIONAL – S A N G, Cape Town.
SOCIETE NATIONAL DES BEAUX ARTS – Carrousel du Louvre, Paris.
ABSOLUTE SECRET – Association for Visual Arts, Cape Town
COLLECTIONS
2022
KOKO – London, UK
2020
SIMMONS & SIMMONS – London, UK.
2019
NATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM – London, UK.
2018
HOGAN LOVELLS – London, UK.
DENTONS – London, UK.
2016
YELLOWWOODS ART – South Africa.
2013
SPIER – Stellenbosch, South Africa.
2012
ELLERMAN HOUSE – Cape Town, SA.
2007
HOLLARD – Johannesburg, SA.
TOKARA – Stellenbosch, SA.
2006
HOLLARD – Johannesburg, SA.
1999 -2020
Private Collections in South Africa, Europe, North America, United Kingdom & Australia.
PRESS
2016
SA Art Times, South Africa (Interview)
Kensington & Chelsea Review, United Kingdom (Interview)
Cape Argus, Cape Town, SA (Interview)
Bolander, Somerset West, SA (Interview)
2014
City Solicitor, UK (Interview)
2013
Tremors, UK (Review)
Rookie Creative, UK (Review)
2012
The New Age, South Africa. (Review)
The Jackdaw, UK (Profile)
2010
Elle, Holland. (Profile)
2009
Elle Décor, SA. (Project Feature)
Top Billing Magazine, SA. (Project Feature)
2007
House and Garden, SA. (Profile)
Garden and Home, SA. (Profile)
Absolute Cape Town, SA. (Profile)
Time Out, Cape Town, SA.(Profile)
Sunday Independent, SA. (Profile)
2006
The Art Times, SA. (Profile)
The Cape Times, SA. (Review)
Obrigado, SA. (Review)
1999
The Cape Times, SA. (Review)
Die Burger, SA. (Review)