Shani Rhys James
Connaught Brown Gallery is delighted to present Shani Rhys James, a choice of the artist’s work in honour of her 70th birthday. Bringing together seven of her early large scale paintings and major later works, this exhibition charts the trajectory of one of Britain’s leading and most iconic contemporary female painters.
With award-winning highlights such as Red Beret, the display is a testament to Rhys James’ longstanding commitment to figurative art and the materiality of paint. Alongside more recent works, the paintings exhibited reveal her evolution and deepening engagement with the nature of femininity, domesticity, motherhood, and artistry itself. Drawing on the artist’s own fascination with the
transience of being, Shani Rhys James at 70 reflects on her life and career, highlighting her ability to charge the canvas with emotion and unwavering magnetism.
The works on display date from the moment of the artist’s rise to prominence in the 1990s, followed by great success and numerous prizes including Gold Medal at the 1992 National Eisteddfod of Wales, BBC Wales Visual Art Award, Jerwood Painting Prize, and an M.B.E. for services to Welsh art in 2006. She has been the recipient of three Honorary Fellowships, and was artist in residence at Columbia University New York in 2015. Her works are held in major national collections such as Arts Council of England, National Museum in Cardiff, National Library of Wales, Birmingham Museum, Pallant House Gallery in Chichester, Victoria Museum in Bath, and Europe’s largest collection of art by women at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.
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Shani Rhys JamesSelf-Portrait with Red Beret, 1991Oil on gesso boardFramed: 50 3/4 x 41 in, 129 x 104 cm
Unframed: 48 1/4 x 38 3/8 in, 122.5 x 97.5 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso -
Shani Rhys JamesChicken Coop III, 1999Oil on linen72 x 84 1/4 in, 183 x 214 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys James, Madame Bovary, 2019
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Shani Rhys JamesRed Ground, 2003Oil on linen84 1/4 x 72 1/4 in, 214 x 183.5 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesThe Inner Room, 1999Oil on linen72 1/4 x 84 1/4 in, 183.5 x 214 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesThe Ladder, 1993Oil on canvasFramed: 99 5/8 x 67 3/8 in, 253 x 171 cm
Unframed: 96 1/4 x 63 3/4 in, 244.5 x 162 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso -
Shani Rhys JamesHead against Zigzags, 2021Oil on gesso board19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in, 50 x 50 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesBlue Top, 2013Oil on canvas72 1/8 x 96 1/8 in, 183 x 244 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesHead looking to the right, 2021Oil on gesso board15 3/4 x 15 3/4 in, 40 x 40 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys James, Narcissus, 2016
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Shani Rhys JamesHead I, 1992Oil on gesso board10 3/4 x 9 1/2 in, 27.3 x 24 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesStudio, 2022Oil on gesso board19 3/4 x 19 3/4 in, 50 x 50 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesHead V, 2015Oil on canvas board7 1/8 x 5 1/8 in, 18 x 13 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso
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Shani Rhys JamesHead VI, 2015Oil on canvas board7 1/8 x 5 1/8 in, 18 x 13 cmSigned, titled and dated on versoSold
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Shani Rhys JamesHead III, 2015Oil on canvas board7 1/8 x 5 1/8 in, 18 x 13 cmSigned, titled and dated on versoSold
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Shani Rhys JamesFace Mask, 2010Oil on linen13 x 9 1/2 in, 33 x 24 cmSigned, titled and dated on verso