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I'm an Artist / Teacher.
stephen_carley@sky.com

My work is completely concerned with context, process and materials. I make paintings, drawings and collages, often on a very large scale. I use the dark room as an experimental space, making camera less imagery and double exposed 35mm. I use Lo-Fi audio techniques collecting field recordings and glitched samples. The audio is filtered, cut up, reconfigured, sequenced and looped. I have often chosen to use 'poor' materials – for example, dust, cardboard, chalk on blackboards, lead, chocolate, ashes, water and other stuff. I work with discarded found materials collected between home and studio. I make short films that rely on repetition, loops and repeats. I like to give the viewer / audience / student, room to manoeuvre intellectually. I'm not really interested in simply making work that has to fit on a mantle shelf, an office wall, a stage or a commercial white cube space, however, I am interested in engaging with ideas that subvert or possibly complement those contexts. My work is sometimes intentionally confrontational, sometimes intentionally beautiful. Profanities, congested space, white noise, ugly / beautiful, process led – 'making a mark'. I try to avoid associations with art HIStory.  

This is my 'punk rock'.


CV

Education;

Foundation Art and Design
The College, Swindon, Wiltshire. 
1979–80

BA (Hons) Fine Art
Gloucestershire College of Art and Technology
1980–83 

MA Printmaking
Chelsea School of Art 
1983–84 

Printmaking Fellow
Sunderland Polytechnic
1984–85 

Artists in Education Training Project
Leicester Polytechnic 
1991–92 

Certificate in Education (post 16)
Sheffield Hallam University
1993–94 

PGCE Art and Design (Secondary Education)
Leeds University 
2001–2002



Selected Solo Exhibitions;

vISIBLE CITY: a compilation.
Screw Gallery, Leeds.
2022.

The Path of Least Resistance
Access Space, Sheffield. 
2018 

Abstract Memory Remnant A to B
Bank Street Arts, Sheffield.
2017 

Quartet 
We Are Folk Space, Sheffield.
2016 

Construct Deconstruct Reconstruct
Chapel Walk Gallery, Sheffield.
2015 

12X12 studio interventions
Sheffield 
2008–2010

X, Y. Z etc.
Derby Museum and Art Gallery 
2007 

Dum Dums 
The Workstation, Sheffield.
2005



Selected Group Exhibitions;

111 Not Out. The London Group.
Quay Arts Centre, The Isle of Wight. 2024.

London Group in Scarborough. Old Parcels Office Gallery. 2023.

Drawing Open. Second Floor Studios, London. 2023.

Contrafibularities. Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield.
Painting and Process. 2023.

Documents. Gallery Dodo, Brighton.
Film / Photography. 2023.

Speculative Proposals / Increased Speculation.
Drawing and Process. Bloc Projects Space. 2023.

Annual Open. Old Parcels Office Gallery. Scarborough. 2023.

Think of Me With Kindness. Curated by Sean Williams. Gage Gallery, Sheffield. 2022.

Catch your Breath.
London Group and invited artists.
Morley Gallery, London.
2022.

Geometry and Gesture.
With Kate Jacob, Nick Grindrod and Myfanwy Williams.
Bloc Projects, Sheffield. 2022.

Prosaic Projects Gallery / Mixed Essence
with Luke Walsh and Lea Torp Nielsen. Bloc Projects, Sheffield.
2020

Prosaic / Mosiac.
Bloc Projects, Sheffield.
2019

Squaring The Circle
with Nick Grindrod
The Circle Artspace, Sheffield.
2019 

Metamorphosis 
The Cello Factory, London.
2019

In the Dark 
The Cello Factory, London.
2019

POVERA 
with Micheál O’Connell (Mocksim) and Jockel Liess.
The Cello Factory, London.
2018

Finding Lines 
Derby Museum and Art Gallery 
2017

Dis:placed. Postal art project and exhibition.
Walsall Art gallery 
2016

Zwart-Wit
Kunsthuis Art Gallery, Crayke, North Yorkshire.
2016

Various collaborative studio and site specific interventions with Keith Hayman. Sheffield. 2013.

Can You Hear Me Now?
Derby Museum and Art Gallery
2012

Pandemic
York
2011

Recent Prizes, Awards, Open Submissions;

OPO OPEN Exhibition 2024.
Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough. 
3D Prize winner.

The London Group 85th Open.
Copeland gallery, London. 2023. 

RWA 170th Open.
Clifton, Bristol. 2023.

RSA Annual Open.
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
2023.

OPO OPEN Exhibition 2023.
Old Parcels Office Artspace, Scarborough.

RWA 169th Open.
Clifton, Bristol. 2022.

RSA Annual Open.
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
2022.

RSA Annual Open
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
2020.

The Cooper Prize.
Cooper Gallery, Barnsley.
2021.

The London Group 84th Open,
The Cello Factory, London.
2019.

RSA Annual Open
Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh.
2019.
Latimer prize winner.

RWA 167th Open. 
Clifton, Bristol. 2019.

The London Group
Membership nomination 
2018.

Presidents Prize. The London Group (exhibition prize at The Cello Factory, London). 2017.

The London Group 83rd Open
The Cello Factory, London.
2017.

Derbyshire Open.
First prize – The Old Station Gallery, Rowsley, Derbyshire. 2016.

RWA 164th Open
Clifton, Bristol. 2016.

The London Group 82nd Open
The Cello Factory, London.
2015.



Residencies;

Darlington Arts centre
1986–88.

Artist in Education (various schools and colleges)
Sheffield
1990–93.


Collections;

Work in private collections in Sheffield, Nottingham, Darlington, Bristol, Cornwall, Leeds and London.
Running on Cargo