Judith Dean (born 1965, Billericay, UK). Lives and works in London.
Dean graduated from Wimbledon School of Art in London with a BA honours in Fine Art (1988) and Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (1993). Completing numerous residencies, Dean has also received several awards, including the Jerwood Sculpture Prize (2005). Since her first solo exhibition in 1990, Dean has exhibited and performed worldwide, including Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia, (1997). Last year, Dean presented the solo exhibition,
New Builds / Bilds 2: did you mean peace?, at South Parade Gallery, London.
Gina Fischli (born 1989, Zurich, Switzerland). Lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland.
Fischli received her MFA from the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2018 and her BA from the University of Fine Arts Hamburg, Germany, in 2015. Since Fischli has exhibited internationally, including at Kunstmuseum Solothurn, Switzerland; the Geneva Biennale: Sculpture Park at Parc des Eaux-Vives, Geneva, Switzerland; Istituto Svizzero, Rome, Italy; Swiss Institute, New York City, and Aspen Art Museum, Colorado. After publishing
Bad Timing in 2018, Fischli has published her second monograph,
Good Service, in 2022. The artist’s most recent solo exhibition,
The Ballad of the Sad Café, was on display at Zazà, Milan, Italy.
Nicola Gunnarsson (born 1995, London, UK). Lives and works in London.
Gunnarsson graduated with a BA in Fine Art and History of Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, in 2017, and with a Fine Art postgraduate from the Royal Academy Schools in 2022. The same year, Gunnarson held her first solo exhibition,
Material Girls at Loveday C Co., London.
Exhibiting across the UK, Italy and the United States, Gunnarsson received the 2023 Xenia Creative Residency award. In 2025, Gunnarsson opened
Post-Fair, a solo exhibition at Roland Ross, Santa Monica, California.
Sebastian Jefford (born 1990, Swansea, Wales). Lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Graduating from the Royal Academy Schools in 2017, Jefford’s work has been exhibited internationally in both group and solo exhibitions. Select exhibitions include
Toy at Galerie Noah Klink, Berlin, Germany (2025);
The Living World of Animals at Gianni Manhattan in Vienna, Austria (2023); and in the same year,
Amid the Alien Corn was showcased at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany. In 2022, Jefford presented works in
DES CHAMPS DE
FRAISES POUR L’ÉTERNITÉ at La Galerie, centre d’art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec, France, and a group show held at Rob Tufnell in Venice, Italy. In 2021, the artist participated in Frieze London with a solo presentation by Gianni Manhattan, Vienna, Austria, and presented his solo exhibition
Natural Gas at Liebaert Projects in Kortrijk, Belgium.
Sarah Jones
Sarah Jones is best in brief.
Richard Kirwan (born 1969).
Kirwan graduated in 1994 with an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA in Fine Art from Brighton Polytechnic (1992). Kirwan’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, with presentations in Australia, Japan, Singapore, the USA, and throughout
Europe. In 2012, Kirwan’s work was included in
The Indiscipline of Painting, an exhibition at Tate St Ives that explored international abstraction from the 1960s to the present. Recently, Kirwan presented a solo exhibition,
In order of appearance, at Lungley Gallery, London. Collected by
private collections worldwide, Kirwan’s work is included in the Saatchi Collection, London; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Groucho, London; Soho House C Co., London; Paul Smith, London; National Art Collection Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venice, Italy; Ulster Museum of Contemporary Art, Ireland; and Sharjah Museum of Contemporary Art, Dubai.
Hamish Pearch (born 1993, London, UK). Lives and works in London.
After graduating from Camberwell College of Arts, London, Pearch completed a Postgraduate Diploma at the Royal Academy Schools, London, in 2019. A finalist for the XL Caitlin Prize in 2016, Pearch was awarded the Fluxus Art Projects grant in 2020 for the solo exhibition
Head Above Water at Belsunce Projects, Marseille, France. Completing residencies worldwide, including a residency at Launch Pad LaB, La Boissière, France and Fonderia Artistica Battaglia, Milan, in 2024, Pearch was selected by Frances Morris for a residency at Hauser C Wirth, Somerset. Exhibiting internationally, selected solo exhibitions include
Do not throw trash into the pond at Sans titre, Paris (2024);
Smoky, Moth and Mike at Ginny on Frederick, London (2023); and
If things were different at Galeria Mascota, Mexico City (2022). Pearch previously exhibited with Elizabeth Xi Bauer in
The Garden of Unearthly Delights, alongside Theodore Ereira-Guyer and Manuela Ribadeneira in 2021.
Cathie Pilkington (born 1968, Manchester, UK). Lives and works in London.
Pilkington studied at Edinburgh College of Art (1991) and the Royal College of Art (1997).
The recipient of numerous awards, Pilkington was honoured with the Sunny Dupree Award in 2014 for her work,
Reclining Doll. A Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy Schools, Pilkington was appointed Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools in 2019, a post she continues to hold. Exhibiting internationally, select solo exhibitions include
Rag & Bone at Kunstmuseum Brandts, Denmark (2025
–26), and
Weird Horses at Karsten Schubert, London (2023). Recent situated projects include
Housekeeper (2025) at the Freud Museum, London;
Anatomy of a Doll in the Royal Academy Life Room, London (2016); and
Life Room: Working from Home (2019); which made interventions in the display of the permanent collections of Dorich House Museum and Pallant House Gallery. Pilkington’s work is held in worldwide collections, including Pallant House Gallery, Manchester City Art Gallery, Hunterian, Glasgow University, Ӧmer Koç
Foundation, and the David and Indrė Roberts Art Collection Foundation.
Max Prus (born 1987, Reading, UK). Lives and works in London.
Prus graduated from The Glasgow School of Art (2011) and the Royal Academy Schools (2015). He has completed various international residencies, including La Générale, France; 1Shanthi Road, India; Art Students League of New York, USA; Dover Arts Club Drawing Room Residency, London; and Lake Como Residency, Malevich, Italy. Widely exhibited across England and
Mexico, Prus’ work was included in the
Day of the Dead group exhibition at the Victoria C Albert Museum, London (2018). Select solo exhibitions include
The Long Wait at Somers Gallery, London (2024);
Their Garden City at England C Co. Gallery, London (2024); and
how many watts? at Cornucopia Gallery, London, (2021).
Elinor Stanley (born 1992, London, UK). Lives and works in London.
Stanley studied at the Royal Academy Schools (2023) and is an alumnus of The Glasgow School of Art (2015) and Open School East, Margate (2018). Following recent international residencies, including Dragon Hill, France (2025), Stanley will undertake a residency with the Roberts Institute of Art (RIA) later this year. Select exhibitions include
The Centre Will not Hold at FT2 Gallery, Milan;
A Room Hung with Thoughts, British Painting Now at The Green Family Foundation, Dallas, USA;
Orbital at Nova Contemporary, Bangkok, Thailand;
Chin Chin at Dasein Gallery, Shenzhen, China; and
Accordion Fields at Lisson Gallery, London. Later this year,
You Must Change Your Life will present works by Stanley at Grimm Gallery in New York City.
Oliver Tirré (born 1989, Nuneaton, UK). Lives and works in London.
Tirré holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal Academy Schools (2019)
and a BA in Fine Art from Nottingham Trent University (2012). A regular participant in artists’ talks across the UK, Tirré has also completed residencies in the UK, the Netherlands, and China. Exhibiting in both Europe and the UK, recent select exhibitions include
Governmental Fires, Futura, Prague;
Attitudes of the Unruly, Den Frie Udstilling, Copenhagen; and
Analogue of a Straight Line, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London.
Chris Thompson (born 1991, Teesside, UK). Lives and works in London.
Thompson studied at Camberwell College of Arts (2013) and in the United States at SUNY Purchase (State University of New York, 2012), and holds an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London (2023). The recipient of numerous awards and grants, Thompson was honoured with the Developing Your Creative Practice Grant by Arts Council England (2022) and, recently, the Gilbert Bayes Sculpture Award in 2024. Exhibiting extensively throughout the UK, Thompson’s work,
The Vessel, is a continuously touring self-contained show, previously exhibited at Goldsmiths, University of London; St Chad’s, London; Middlesbrough Art Week Festival; and PINK MCR, Manchester.
David Thorpe (born 1972, London, UK). Lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
Thorpe holds a BA Honours in Fine Art from the University of Lincoln (previously Humberside University) and an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London (1998). Since his first solo in 1999 with Maureen Paley, London, Thorpe has exhibited internationally in both gallery and museum spaces, including
The Colonists at Tate Britain. Recent solo exhibitions include
We have come to display but may come back to destroy, Casey Kaplan, New York, USA, and
Underground, Maureen Paley, London, UK.
A Perfume Against the Sulphurous Stink of the Snuffe, of the Light for Smoak, published by Kunstverein Hannover, Germany, is Thorpes’s latest artist book.
Thorpe’s works are held in private and public collections, including Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Germany; Museum Kurhaus, Kleve, Germany; Saatchi Collection, London; Tate Britain, London; Zabludowicz Collection, London; The Albright Knox Museum, NY, USA; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA.
Francis Upritchard (born 1976, Ngāmotu / New Plymouth, Aotearoa / New Zealand). Lives and works in London and Aotearoa / New Zealand.
Upritchard graduated from Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury, Aotearoa / New Zealand (1997). Upritchard’s works have been exhibited worldwide, with select recent solo exhibitions held at Kate MacGarry, London (2025); Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark (2024); Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, Switzerland (2022);
Christchurch Art Gallery, Aotearoa / New Zealand (2022); Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Belgium (2020); Barbican Centre, London, UK (2018); The Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA (2014); and Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Kagawa, Japan (2013).
Commissioned for the Sydney Modern Project, Upritchard unveiled
Here Comes Everybody in 2022 outside the Naala Badu building at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Her installations,
Save Yourself and
Viva Arte Viva, represented Aotearoa / New Zealand in the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) and the 57th Venice Biennale (2017) respectively.
Other group exhibitions include the Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China (2023);
A Thousand Doors, a collaboration between NEON and Whitechapel Gallery; and
Lilliput, New York High Line, New York City, USA (2012). Upritchard’s works are held in numerous public collections across New Zealand, Australia, the UK and the USA.
Brian Griffiths (born 1968, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK). Lives and works in Colchester and London, UK.
Brian Griffiths is an artist, curator, and Senior Lecturer at the Royal Academy Schools. Since graduating with an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London, in the late 1990s, Griffiths has produced sculptures and installations noted for their overblown theatricality and pathos. He was elected a Royal Academician in 2022.
Griffiths has curated numerous exhibitions, including
Coming Soon, Royal Academy Schools, London (2025);
So he pulled the right levers and you did the asking, Artlink, Kingston upon Hull, Hull UK City of Culture (2017); S
hortcuts & Digressions: Contemporary Sculpture from the Arts Council Collection, Norwich Castle Museum C Art Gallery (2013);
The Extension, Vilma Gold, London, co‑curated with Alexandre da Cunha (2010);
The Lost Collection of an Invisible Man, The Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle (2003); and
Necessary Enemy, Bart Wells Institute, London (2002).
Griffiths’ first monograph,
Crummy Love, was published in 2011 by Walther König.
Response to a Request (or spasm of the soul) will run from 1st May – 14th June 2026, at Elizabeth Xi Bauer’s Exmouth Market location, open Wednesday through to Sunday, 12 – 6 pm or by appointment. A Private View will be held on 30th April 2026, 6 – 8 pm.
Gallery locations:
20-22 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QE Fuel Tank, 8-12 Creekside, London, SE8 3DX
For further information, press inquiries, or to schedule a visit, contact Paige Ashley at
[email protected]
A Dropbox with additional press material can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/e2f98cjc49ewij54ru2ih/AMH6ohSvCmp7NuUWZl2hsrE?rlkey
=dk3wptujos96ouqsekn4ggdu9Cst=2dquuh4lCdl=0
Press contact: Paige Ashley
[email protected] https://elizabethxibauer.com/
Image Credit: Max Prus,
Two Everlasting Doors, 2024. Oil on cotton duck canvas, 150.5 x 140.5 cm. Courtesy of the Artist and Elizabeth Xi Bauer, London.
