About
Louise Balaam is a painter of expressive, gestural landscapes, which communicate an intense emotional response to the experience of being in the landscape.
The materiality and sensual qualities of oil paint are important elements of Louise’s process. “I love the way paint is simultaneously itself, essentially coloured mud, while also somehow evoking the space and light of the landscape. For me, the light is a crucial aspect of the emotional impact of the painting. I’m fascinated by the mysterious way paint expresses things which can’t be put into words.” She is influenced by the English landscape tradition, particularly Constable: “Painting is but another word for feeling.” Other important influences include Joan Eardley and Peter Lanyon, as well as American abstract expressionist artists Willem de Kooning and Joan Mitchell. Louise’s work is also informed by writing about the natural world, particularly Nan Shepherd, Robert McFarlane and Rebecca Solnit.
Drawings made in the landscape are used in the studio as starting points for a way of painting which is exploratory and intuitive – the painting develops through an almost unconscious process.
Louise is a member of the New English Art Club and of the Royal West of England Academy, and has a degree and a Masters qualification in Fine Art. She has work in many private collections and has shown in the Royal Academy Summer Show, the Threadneedle Prize, the Lynn Painter-Stainer Prize, and the Discerning Eye. She occasionally teaches classes and workshops, which you can find out about in News and Events.
Education
2005-7 University College, Canterbury, MA Fine Art
1997-2002 Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury, BA (Hons) Fine Art
Solo Exhibitions
2017 Boathouse Gallery, Flatford Mill (NT), Suffolk
2010,11,13,15,17,19 Cadogan Contemporary, London SW7
2012, 2014 John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos
2008 Trinity Gallery, Tunbridge Wells
2007 “Response”, Ashford Library Gallery
Selected Group Exhibitions
2008,09,10,13,14,17 Royal Academy Summer Show, London W1
2014,15,16 Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize Exhibition, Mall Galleries, SW1
2009, 2011 Threadneedle Prize Exhibition, London
2005-11,16,17 (invited artist) Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2004-7, 2009-18 New English Art Club Annual Exhibition, London
2015 20/21 Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London SW7
2004-18 Royal West of England Open Exhibition, Bristol
2014-18 Summer Show, Belgrave Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall
2012-18 Josephine Harpur, Bury St Edmunds and Aldeburgh
2012-18 Fairfax Gallery, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
2005-18 Gallery shows, White Space Art, Totnes, Devon
2012, 2013 Russell Gallery, Putney, London
2009, 2010 Royal Society of British Artists, London
2007-11 Group shows, Porthminster Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall
2005-10 Gallery shows, Alan Kluckow Fine Art, Sunningdale
2007 Contemporary Work on Paper Fair, Royal Academy, London
2005, 2007 Chichester Open Art Exhibition, Sussex
2005 Hunting Art Prize Exhibition, London
2002-03 “Fresh Art,” Islington, London
Prizes
2010 Odin Trust Prize, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
2007 Highly Commended, Chichester Open Art Exhibition
Memberships
2011 Elected Academician of the Royal West of England Academy
2011 Elected Member of the New English Art Club