BIOGRAPHY
Carolyn Whittaker, originally from Lancashire, is a London based multimedia artist. She returned to her childhood passion for art in her late thirties, and after having children herself studied foundation at The Mary Ward Centre and BA in Fine Art graduating in 2015 from the University of East London. Since then Whittaker has been a participant in the MASS/Turps programme until 2023 and is now part of the Changeable Beast and BOTH gallery artists CICs.
Whittaker explores the relationship between the elements of time, change and risk at conceptual and material levels. The artist uses ice to demonstrate that ‘nothing is ever left as nothing’. The viewer is invited to observe the performative nature of the object slowly changing form, and therefore participating in the risks associated with the outcome.
Whittaker’s recent practice investigates the subject of the erosion of workers' rights over the decades, and the imbalance and inequity between workers, business leaders and their shareholders. This body of work was explored in her performance piece 'Tendered Philanthropy ?' 2022 in 'Hard Times' at Koppel-x ; with ‘Repress. React. Reform’ 2023 in ‘Postcards from the Volcano' at Thameside Studios gallery, London which was also captured in MASS magazine issue no.2. In 2024 this theme has appeared as ‘Regroup I’ in ‘Inside : Out’ with Hive Curates in Gerry Raffles Square, London and ‘Regroup 11’ in ‘SECOND NATURE’ at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens, Penzance.
Photo @jennyquiggin
AWARDS
2015: First Class Honours Degree in Fine Art, University of East London
2015: Deans Award for Art and Design, University of East London
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MEMBERSHIPS/PROGRAMMES
Founding member of @BOTHgalleryldn and member of @changeable_beast.
2023 completed 3 years of the Turps/Mass programme.
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INTERVIEWS AND FEATURED WORKS
2024 SECOND NATURE: Tessa Garland in Conversation with Rachel Hindley Link
artcornwall.org , Martin Holman, 'Second Nature at Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens'.
2016, An Interview with Carolyn Whittaker – by Roshan Langley
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PUBLICATIONS
2025 Featured Work in Mass Sculpture Magazine.
2024 Ian Dawson's Intro to Catalogue.
2022 Hard Times
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 ‘…freeze, hang, melt, eat, sleep ,repeat…’, BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2014 ‘Metaphorical Sketches’, AVA Light Well gallery, University of East London
2012 ‘Marking Now’, AVA Light Well gallery, University of East London.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 'Bizarre Bazaar' BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2025 'At the Door' Safe House 1 Gallery, 139 Copeland Rd, Peckham, London, SE15 3SN.
2025 '100/50 Exhibition (who's counting)' Unit 1, 1 Bard road, London, W10 6TP.
2025 'BLOOM' Tryst Art Fair, Del amo Crossing, 21535 Hawthorne Blvd, Torrance 90503, Los Angeles.
2025 'Why Am I so Hot' BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2025 'Fruiting Bodies' Old Parcels Office, Scarborough.
2025 'Unearthing the Archive' BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2025 'UBIK' Hypha Gallery, Sugar Hse Island, E15, London.
2025 'Traces' BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2024 'Encounter Culture' APT gallery, Harold Wharf, London Deptford, SE8 4SA.
2024 ‘SECOND NATURE’ Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens gallery, Penzance, TR20 8YL.
2024 ‘Extra Shift’ BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2024 'Viewpoint' BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2024 'In:Out', Hive Curates, Gerry Raffles Square, Stratford, E15, London.
2023 'Material Gain: Ethereal' Changeable Beast group show, 1 Paved Court, Richmond, Surrey.
2023 ‘Mother of All’ BOTH gallery, London, N6 5AA, London.
2023 'Postcards from the Volcano', MASS group show, Thameside Studios gallery, SE15, London.
2023 ‘Coordinate’, MASS group show, Thameside Studios, SE15, London.
2022 'Hard Times', 14g group show at Koppel_x, Piccadilly Circus, London.
2022 'Verb', MASS end of year show, Thameside Studios, SE15, London.
2022 Sweet Art', Retrespect', The Art Bypass gallery, Hoxton, EC1V.
2022 'Fools Gold', MASS interim show, Thameside Studios, SE15, London.
2022 'Crucible', Thameside Studios Gallery, SE15, London.
2020 'Concrete Blue', ASC, Empson St Studios, E3, London.
2019 'Sculpt II', The Bomb Factory Arts Foundation, Archway, London.
2019 Sweet Art, 'The Death of Art', Stash Gallery, The Crypt, E1, London.
2019 'A Geography of Interiors', ASC, Empson St Studios, E3, London.
2019 'Sculpt', The Bomb Factory Arts Foundation, Archway, London.
2018 Online exhibition accompanying the conference Reinventing, Rethinking, and Representing Menopause: Beyond the Interdisciplinary Paradigm, (CRASSH), University of Cambridge.
2018 Sweet Art, ‘Have A Hart', Stash Gallery, The Crypt, E1, London.
2017 Sweet Art, 'Fem Fest', Tanner St, SE1, London.
2017 'Dark Regards' , Ply Gallery Hornsey Town Hall Arts Centre, London.
2016 Sweet Art, 'Hand Maid', Hoxton Arches, Cremer St, E2, London.
2016 'Sixty', Angus Hughes Gallery, Hackney, London.
2016 Sweet ‘Art, 'She', Unit 5 Gallery, The Yard, E2, London.
2015 Sweet 'Art 'Punch', Espacio Gallery, Shoreditch.
2015 E17 Art Trail, Walthamstow, London.
2015 Fine Art Showcase Degree Show, University of East London..
2015 ‘Remember’, The Church of St John, Bethnal Green, London.
2015 ‘The Magician’s Monocle’, The Old Bath House, Hackney Wick, London.
2015 ‘Tondo Time’, AVA Gallery, University of East London
2013 ‘Quarry’, AVA Gallery, University of East London
2013 ‘Longitude- 51.581470 Latitude-0.146384' Rekindle Public Arts, Queens Wood, Highgate, London.
2012 ‘Portlanders’, AVA Gallery, University of East London
2012 ‘Get Culture’, Rekindle Public Arts, Queens Wood, Highgate, London.
2011 ‘Green Shoots’, Rekindle Public Arts, Queens Wood, Highgate, London.