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Sarah Beetson
 Biography | Artwork
 
Sarah graduated with a 1st class honours degree in Illustration in 2002 from Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall, UK. She won the Pentland Prize for Fine Art, Presented by Wayne Hemmingway of Red or Dead, that same year, and was commissioned to create 2 giant paintings based on the retro ski and tennis origins of the Ellesse sportswear brand, for their marketing HQ.
 
She spent the next 4 years in London working in fashion, illustration and design in-house, first as an illustrator and graphic designer at Yellowdoor, the fashion marketing company run by Mary Portas (of TV's Mary Queen of Shops). Here she created designs for Thomas Pink, Sussan, Sportsgirl, Boden and Clarks Shoes, and was commissioned to create 4 large scale paintings entirely in tones of white for the launch event of the Clarks Pure range.
 
During this period Sarah worked as a styling assistant on an issue of Pop magazine under infamous stylist Katie Grand, also helping out at The Face magazine next door. She completed a 7-month print design internship at Stella McCartney assisting in the creation of designs for fabric print and t-shirts, and conducting extensive design research for collections. A commission followed to decorate the walls of the shoe room of Stella's Bruton Street shop, which opened in London in 2003. She was then offered a placement in couture embroidery for John Galliano at Dior in Paris, turning it down to setup her own market stall, selling her printed and hand painted t-shirt designs in Camden Town. 
 
 Since then, she has built a career as a freelance artist and illustrator. Her extensive Illustration client list includes The Telegraph and The Times (UK), The Miami Herald, The Globe and Mail (Toronto), The Wall St Journal, Philadelphia Magazine, The Portland Mercury, Clarks Shoes, Ellesse, Diesel, La Perla, Tezenis, Kings of Neon, Yellow Rat Bastard, Readers Digest, Hachette Children's, Scholastic Books, The London Magazine, The British Fashion Council, Perth Fashion Festival, IKEA, OXO, Dove Soaps, Knorr Soups, St George Bank, Ernst & Julio Gallo, Nicolas Wines, Ford Germany, Delta Airlines, Continental Airlines, Trader Joe's, Die Roten Punkte and The Dresden Dolls.
 
Sarah began exhibiting her work during her time in the London squatting scene in the early noughties, joining together with a creative underbelly of artists and performers and seizing the opportunity of free public space and utilizing it for 1 night only shows. She has since established herself as an international artist, exhibiting work in London, Paris, Portland, New York, Adelaide and Melbourne. She relocated from the UK to Australia in 2006, exhibiting her 1st solo exhibition "Bodies" at The McCulloch Gallery in 2007.

 
  
Her 2nd solo exhibition, "50 Bucks Bring On The Sluts" featured Australia's 1st Art Vending Machine, donated by Pepsi Cola, which Sarah adorned with paintings from vintage Pepsi commercials, and had adjusted to vend artworks in Pepsi bottles at $50 a pop. Sarah created almost 500 works for the exhibition; all inspired by her 1968-1982 Playboy and Penthouse collection, and 50s Cult Gay Americana. The collection was made into 2 limited edition packs of playing cards, which rapidly sold out.
 
In 2008, Sarah made live drawings of Australian musician Nick Cave at his "In Conversation" sessions at The Arts Centre, Melbourne. Many of the resulting works were sold, several going into collections. In 2009, she took part in a group show with 50 Australian artists to customize a bottle of Belvedere Vodka, and was shortlisted for an award. Belvedere purchased the bottle. Later that year she was presented in a group exhibition of emerging artists at the prestigious Metro Gallery in Melbourne.
 
Sarah's 3rd solo exhibition; "YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU EAT", was a part of L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival Cultural Events Program 2010, and featured in The Adelaide Fringe 2010, for which it was nominated for an award. The show hailed a celebrated return to her roots in the fashion industry; seeing wearable art collaborations with 6 emerging fashion designers, a series of BMI (Body Mass Index) original art badges, and a collection of limited edition digital print silk scarves. The subject of body image is a recurrent issue within Sarah's work, as are gender themes and subcultures, and the politics and perversities of popular culture. She counts 60s American literature, John Waters, cult film, Japan, rock music, decaying urban typography, and Coney Island as her inspirations, and divides her time between a picturesque farm in Queensland and a Motor Torpedo boat on The Thames. 
 

EDUCATION
 
1999 - 2002
Falmouth College of Arts, Cornwall UK
BA (HONS) Illustration, First Class Honours
 
EXHIBITIONS
 
2011  ‘I Dream In Celluloid’ Solo Exhibition, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
2011  ‘I Dream In Celluloid’ Group Exhibition, The Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK
2011  ‘Birth’ Group Exhibition, Catolic University  Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2011  ‘Homage To Frida’ Group Exhibition, 19 Karen Gallery, Gold Coast, Australia
2011  ‘I Dream In Celluloid’ Solo Exhibition, For Walls Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2011  ‘I Dream In Celluloid’ Solo Exhibition, 19 Karen Gallery, Gold Coast, Australia
2010  ‘Unsung Heroes’ Group Exhibition, Off The Kerb Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010  ‘Unsung Heroes’ Group Exhibition, 19 Karen Gallery, Gold Coast, Australia 
2010  ‘YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU EAT’ Solo Exhibition, L’Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival, Discobeans Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2010  ‘YOU ARE NOT WHAT YOU EAT’ Solo Exhibition, The Adelaide Fringe Festival, Dragonfly Bar, Adelaide, Australia
2009 ‘The Art Group: Let’s Play’ Group Exhibition, The Maverik Showroom Shoreditch, London, UK
2009 ‘September Group Show’ Group Exhibition, Metro Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2009 ‘Belvedere Vodka Customized Bottles’ Group Exhibition, The McCulloch Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2009 ‘Expectations’ Split stock show with Josef Marzi, The McCulloch Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2009 ‘Deforestation in Tasmania’ Group Exhibition, The Collingwood Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2008 ‘The Secret Life of The Love Song’ Group Exhibition, The Greenwood Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2008 ‘50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts’ Solo Exhibition, Flux Factory, New York, USA
2008 ‘50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts’ Group Exhibition, Valentine’s, Portland, USA
2008 ‘50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts’ Group Exhibition, The Brick Lane Gallery, London, UK
2008 ‘50 Bucks: Bring On The Sluts’ Solo Exhibition, The McCulloch Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2007 ‘Bodies’ Solo Exhibition, The McCulloch Gallery, Melbourne, Australia
2006 ‘Rubbish Fairy: Dead Boys, Dead Girls, Dead Things’ Group Show Museum of Advertising, Paris, France
2005 ‘Pornographic Clowns (Commercial For Levi)’, Group Show w. Marie Bastille Agency, Paris, France
2004 ‘Mail Order Boys: The Sweeties Selection’ Group Show, Vinopolis Gallery, London, UK
2003 ‘Bartholomew Collective’ Group Show in Squatted Print Studio, 252 Old Street, London, UK
2002 ‘Illustration’ Group Show, Falmouth Arts Centre, Cornwall, UK
 
ACHIEVEMENTS AND EXPERIENCE
 
2011 'The Best in Book Prize' in UK magazine's Creative Review's illustration awards
2010 Adelaide Fringe Awards Eran Svigos Award for Best Body Of Work By An Individual (shortlisted)
2010 RADF Gold Coast City Council Arts Development Grant 
2002 Pentland Prize for Fine Art (Winner, Selected by Wayne Hemmingway of Red or Dead)
 
Work History
 
2002 Yellowdoor Fashion Marketing Consultancy Employed by Mary Portas in the position of Freelance Illustrator and Intern (Sept-Nov)
 
2002 Stella McCartney, employed by Stella McCartney and Yuni Ahn in the position of Print Assistant Intern (Nov-July 2003)
 
2003 Pop Magazine, Employed by Katie Grand and Monica Rebella in the position of Styling Intern (July-Oct)
 
2003 Illustration Ltd, Employed by Harry Lyon Smith in the position of Freelance Illustrator and Agency Consultant (Oct - present)
 
2005 University of East London (Fashion Department), Employed by Lucy Jones in the position of Fashion Futures Program Leader and Illustration Lecturer (Jan - May 2006) (plus additional lectures in 2009)
 
Selected Illustration Client List 2002 – present

The Sunday Telegraph
The Times
The Miami Herald
The Globe and Mail Toronto
Penguin Books
EMI Records/KPM Music House
American eagle outfitters
Delta Airlines
Ernst + Julio Gallo
The artgroup
Santa fe tobacco co
Fashion Monitor Magazine
Die Roten Punkte
Gardening Life Magazine
Girls Inc
Canadian Diabetes Association
Tomorrow Magazine
The Dresden Dolls
Yellow Rat Bastard Magazine, NY
Tezenis Italy
IKEA
Clarks Shoes
Stylesight
The Portland Mercury
Fashion 18 Toronto
Avenue Magazine
Bespoke Design
Mucho Barcelona
Ovi Magazine Finland
Nicholas Wines France
Popular Workshop
Travelsmith Magazine
Trader Joe’s
Golf World Magazine
Orange Life
Knorr Soups
Gerber
OPC Magazine
Tank magazine / OXO
Scholastic Children’s Books
The Wall Street Journal
Ford Germany
Camden Graphics
Reader’s Digest
American Lawyer Magazine
Philadelphia Magazine
The British Fashion Council
Julien MacDonald/London Fashion Week
St George’s Bank
La Perla
Diesel Jeans
The London Magazine
Ellesse
San Francisco Academy of Art
Dove Soaps / Ogilvy Toronto
Mr Patel
Captivate Blogs
Perth Fashion Week
 
 
Illustration Agents
 
I2i Art (North America) www.i2iart.com
Illustration Ltd (Rest of World) www.illustrationweb.com

Art Representative
 
19 Karen Contemporary Artspace (Australia) www.19karen.com.au
 
Q&A INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST  
 
Q. At what age did you begin creating art?
A. My earliest memories are of sitting in my grandmother’s pub at Sunday lunch with a pad of paper and a pack of berol felt tips (if I’d behaved and persuaded my mum to buy me the nice pens!) My brother and I spent a lot of time drawing in pubs – he is now a trained graphic designer! We also had a thing about drawing pictures in transit on aeroplanes, of the flight attendants and pilots – and would regularly get invited up to the cockpit to meet our pilot and watch the coast of Southern Portugal emerging beneath us. My father has a detailed pencil drawing of a coke can dated 1989 framed in his office which he recently told me he’s kept all these years.
 
 
Q.Why do you make art?
A. I guess it is a compulsion. I am fairly obsessed with patterns, rules and repetitions and painting gives me a way of maintaining this structure and organization within the chaos that is my world. It also helps me to comprehend the subject matter I engage in representing, and realize my own place within the world, its cultural oddities and fancies, and who we collectively are at this point in time.
 
 
Q. Who do you make it for?
A. For myself. My background is in commercial illustration and I have spent a number of years creating work tailored to other people’s criteria, generally at a restricted scale and working to a tight briefing. Which is fun sometimes, but moving to Australia has allowed me to split my work into two halves and focus on the passion of indulging in my own personal work, without constraint.
 
 
Q. Do you plan out a piece or do you wing it?
A. I begin by conceiving an idea or a theme for a painting or series. I will then spend time researching that theme via books, internet, film, museums, etc, and further clarify the direction of the work. I will then source photographic reference, either by setting up my own small photoshoots or using found reference. I greatly admire those gifted with a photographic memory who are able to draw from the pictures in their mind – but that is not me. I like to surround myself with as much information as possible about the subjects before I begin. Then, halfway through the process, the painting begins. By this time I have planned out much of the composition and materials I will encorporate. But I never have a preconceived idea set in stone of how the piece will look when finished, and I always surprise myself with the outcome.
 
 
Q. Do you have heroes? If so, who, if not why not?
A. Too many to list, but those who have inspired me most include John Waters, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Emir Kusturica, Gus Van Sant, Keith Haring, Egon Scheile, Antoni Gaudi, Gustav Klimt, John Galliano, Bernard Willhelm, John Paul Gaultier, Stella McCartney, Anna Piaggi, Fran Landesman, Richard Brautigan, Yoshitomo Nara, Divine, Jenny Kee, Jack White, River Phoenix, James Dean, Hunter S. Thompson, Elliott Smith, Angela Carter, Anais Nin, Jack Kerouac, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Jarvis Cocker, Vaughn Bode, Robert Crumb, Opal Whiteley, Madonna, Truman Capote, John Kennedy Toole, Nick Cave, The Bad Seeds, and The Birthday Party, Wim Wenders, Jim Jarmusch, Pierre et Gilles, Viktor & Rolf, Julie Verhoeven and David Downton
 
 
Q. 6. How do you decide when a piece of work is finished?
A. It’s just ready. There is a fine blend and balance between a great deal of collage elements sitting next to a fine line drawing and a lot of paint within my work – I’ve done it for so long now that the work just reaches an exact finite point when I know it’s done. With my 50 Bucks series, I created 30 minute time limited pieces – at first I set a stopwatch upon starting each but after the first 50 or so my brain ticked over to the exact timings and my decision making process and the composition stopped being affected, allowing for the natural elapse of each piece.
 
 
Q. Do you have your own cure for artists block?
A. It has only really happened to me once – I cured it by taking in 3 continents in 5 months and accrueing a vast array of access baggage in the form of photographs of decaying urban typography and Americana, a series of polaroids of the locations of my favourite films, a mountain of British, Norwegian, American, New Zealand and Chinese vintage paraphernalia and collage materials, a lot of beat literature, some scientific research, the Hunterian Museum in London, The Coney Island Film Festival, and a trip to Pearl Paints in New York’s Lower East Side.
 
 
Q. Do you think having an art education is important in order to be successful?
A. It’s not for everybody. I think discipline, practice, research and critique are the most important things. But in my case, my studies were crucial to the development of my practice – I spent 3 years in blustery British seaside Cornwall, studying for my degree, and during the first year we were taught everything from how to re-create an old master painting entirely in collaged newspaper tones, to the creation of figurative blind contour drawings. I found some of it frustrating and some of it integral to my progression. The next two years were spent negotiating our own briefs, or doing whatever we wanted so long as it could be justified into an illustrative context, and engaging in much critique with both our professors and our peers. We also focused on the importance of historical and cultural studies and developing a lasting informed process of learning, and these last two elements I have been able to carry through into my own practice post-university, and they have been fundamentally important. Plus, I found my own unique working style there. My year in the London fashion industry which followed provided an alternate teaching platform for me – and served as an on the job, apprenticeship-type experience, furthering my use of media, techniques and ideas. I have since lectured in Falmouth, Cambridge and The University of East London, and have found the experience of teaching inspires me in my own practice.
Represented Artists
 
Abigael WhittakerAmaya IturriAnne SmerdonBeck WheelerBen SheersDan WitheyDebHilton OwenJennifer MondfransJesse DolmanJessica CharlotteJohnny RomeoJuliet FoxtrotKate McCarthyLeigh PearsonLuke YocumMark WarrenPatricia MadoRebecca MurphyRhonda Goodall-KirkRichard DennyRyan PreeceSarah BeetsonSimone MaynardSimone SkrobarSonya G. PetersTwooneWill DuncanYuki Nakano
 
 
Guests Artists
Brian DonnellyCarmel DebreuilClare TomsCristina TroufaDavid GreenDavid HicksEl Wenche WinloveFrederic TruteauGuim Tió ZarralukiHugh FordJacqui DoranJames RekaJason BryantJaybo MonkJennifer CampbellJennifer MurrayJuan ArataKarina RungenfeldeLee BoydLou RosMaria Rozalia FinnaMarco WagnerMark DavisMasha VereshchenkoMichael OnonaMica StillMiles AllenMonique van SteenNatalia de la Pena GonzalezPeter-John de VilliersRay PaulRyuzo KojimaSara BlakeSergejs DjominsSonja DanowskiStephanie SchulteThom BuchananXenia Marita Riebe
 
Jewellery & Ceramics
Amanda ShelsherCezary StulgisGabrielle McGrathHelen NaylorKathryn MitchellLeisa RussellMegan PulsMichaela KloecknerMidge JohansenSally HookSarah DingwallShirley BattrickSkuja Braden