EMILY GILLBANKS (b.1999, Chelmsford, UK) is a an artist and researcher whose work navigates the boundaries between analogue and digital experience through contemporary figurative painting. A graduate of the Royal College of Art, she became the youngest person to receive an MA in Painting from the institution. Her paintings, rooted in social realism, explore mortality, memory and the passage of time. She paints people because she believes in memento mori, yet also that the future can only be understood through the past, rendering life as if it were living data.
She studied for her MA at the Royal College of Art, receiving the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant twice and the Fribourg Philanthropies Painting Prize in 2022. In 2021, she was awarded the de László Medal for Excellence in Painting for ‘Three Things,’exhibited in the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition. She graduated with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from the University of Suffolk and was shortlisted for both the BP Portrait Prize and the Freelands Painting Prize in 2020. In 2024 and 2025, she was shortlisted for the Herbert Smith Freehills Prize at the National Portrait Gallery.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including in London, Finland, Milan, and Los Angeles. In 2023, she held her first solo exhibition, ‘Temporary Sitters,’ at JD Malat Gallery, collaborated with the Barbican Centre alongside Alice Neel’s retrospective and was the Chargeurs Philanthropies Artist in Residence in Marseille. She also became the first artist in residence at the Daler Rowney paint factory in Bracknell where she is now an ambassador of the Georgian Oil Paint range.
In 2025, Hope 93 Gallery staged ‘HAUS: Everything Is A Short-Lived Experience,’ a 3D house installation that immersed viewers in a recollection of her childhood space, enhanced with Apple Vision Pro spatial films that was made possible through the genorisity of The Design Museum and The Alexander McQueen Foundation. That same year, she undertook the ‘Painting Perception’ residency at Daler Rowney, translating the factory’s processes into panoramic painted scenes using traditional oils and immersive digital recordings.
Gillbanks will present her first international solo exhibition at Makasiini Contemporary, Helsinki, in February 2026. The exhibition will feature self-portraiture confronting personal traumas, transforming some of her experiences into painted gothic armour. It reimagines female crucifixion and explores themes from Pre-Raphaelite muses to the dramaturgy of modern dating.
Education:
October 2020 - September 2022, MA Painting: Royal College of Art
September 2017 - June 2020, First-Class BA (Hons) Fine Art Degree: University of Suffolk
Solo Exhibitions:
2026- Makasiini Contemporary, Helsinki, February-April.
2026- Maslows, Mortimer House, London, Pop-up exhibition.
2025- HAUS: Everything is A Short-Lived Experience, Hope 93 Gallery, London. 13th March-22nd April.
2023- Temporary Sitters, London, Mayfair, 15th March- 8th April.
Collaborations:
2025- Nessa’s Soho, Maslows, Mortimer House, Pop-up exhibition in collaboration with sound artist and DJ Demi Abiola.
2025- Sustainable Materials, The Design Museum and The Alexander McQueen Foundation.
2023- Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle, Barbican Centre collaboration. What does it mean to paint from life today? Social media campaign.
Residencies:
2025- Daler-Rowney Georgian Oil Residency, invited to demonstrate how to use the whole range and paint a factory scene from Apple Vision Pro spatial video stills.
2023- Daler-Rowney Artist Residency, invited to paint people who worked in the Daler-Rowney paint factory in Bracknell, October 4th-October 17th 2023.
2023- Chargeurs Philanthropies Foundation’s Painting Residency, Marseille, France. July-September 2023.
Awards, Grants, and Nominations:
2025- Artsy Painting of the Month, June edition.
2025-Shortlisted for The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
2024- Shortlisted for The Herbert Smith Freehills Portrait Award, National Portrait Gallery, London
2023- Shortlisted for the Jacksons’ Painting Prize
2022- Shortlisted for the ACS Studio Prize
2022- The Fribourg Philanthropies Painting Prize Winner 2022, Royal College of Art
2022- Shortlisted for the RBA Rome Scholarship 2022, by the Royal Overseas Leagues Education Committee and the Royal Society of British Artists
2021- Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Second Painting Award, Quebec, Canada
2021- Awarded The de Laszlo Foundation Prize for Excellence and £1,500 awarded to an artist aged 35 or under for the best work from life in the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition.
2020- Winner of the Global Design Graduate Show 2020 Fine Art People’s Choice Award for Painting
2020- Grantee of the Yorkshire Ladies Educational Society
2020- Shortlisted for The Sequested Prize: A Prize For Self-Portraiture Prize 2020, Tristian Hoare Gallery, Fitzroy Square, Bloomsbury, London
2020- The South Square Trust Fine and Applied Art 2020 Grantee, Lewes, Sussex
2020- Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Painting Award, Quebec, Canada
2020- Nominee for The Freelands Painting Prize, 2020, Regents’ Park, London
2020- Pre-Selected for The National Portrait Gallery BP Portrait Award Exhibition, 2020, Charring Cross, London
2019- University of Suffolk Fine Art Student of the Year 2019, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Ipswich, Suffolk
2018- University of Suffolk Representative at the Art History in Higher Education Conference, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
2018- Gainsborough Landscape Prize Winner, Gainsborough House, Sudbury
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2025- Dialogues With A World on Fire, Frieze in collaboration with the David Nott Foundation, and The Yenof Foundation, London.
2025- The New Era, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku, Finland, June 29th- August 10th.
2024- All I Have Is You, Hope93 Gallery, London, October 3rd-tbc.
2023- Friends and Family, Pí Artworks, London. 5th January-28th January.
2022- Mall Galleries Award Winning Artists 2020-2022, Mall Galleries, London, 27th July-6th August.
2022- Royal College of Art Degree Show, Painting Building, Battersea, 27th July-6th August.
2022 - The Royal Overseas League and Royal Society of British Artists Rising Star Exhibition 2022, Royal Over-Seas League, Over-Seas House, 6 Park Place, St James’s Street, London, SW1A 1LR Opening Hours (General Public): Monday to Friday, 10AM – 5PM 29th April- July 3rd.
2021- The Royal Society of British Artists 304th Annual Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London, 14th-24th April
2021- The Human Condition, 54 The Gallery, Mayfair, London, 14th-21st March 2021
2021- The Work-In-Progress Show, Royal College of Art, Battersea. 28th January-4th February
2020- The Society of Women Artists 159th Annual Exhibition 2020, Mall Galleries, London, 22nd September-30th December
2020 - Global Design Graduate Show 2020. Shortlisted for Fine Art, Photography, and Craft Category. In collaboration with Gucci, Artsthread, and ID, Somerset House, London.
2020- An Instagram Aesthetic: To Begin At The Beginning, Peter Pears Gallery, Aldeburgh, 18th-23rd September
2020- Interim Degree Show, The Minories Galleries, Colchester, 6th-15th February
2019- Woodlands Exhibition (invitation to exhibit research proposal of a Patient-Centred-Curational-Practice in collaboration with charity; Hospital Rooms), Waterfront Gallery, Neptune Quay, Ipswich
2019– Inhibition, Group Exhibition, Arlingtons, Ipswich
2018- Responses to The Landscapes of Thomas Gainsborough, Gainsborough House, Sudbury
2018- Simultaneous Mapping, Waterfront Gallery, Neptune Quay, Ipswich
2018- Simultaneous Mapping, Otis College of Art, Los Angeles
2017- Selected Student Portraiture Exhibition, The Apex, Charter Square, Bury Saint Edmunds
2015- Environmental Factoring, University of East Anglia, Norwich
Publications:
2025: FAD Magazine, The Top 5 Exhibitions to Visit in April, https://fadmagazine.com/2025/04/04/the-top-5-art-exhibitions-to-see-in-london-in-april-4/
2025: Artsy Painting of the Month, https://www.artsy.net/artwork/emily-gillbanks-pancakes
2024: Independent https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/hope-93-gallery-fitzrovia-diverse-artists-london-b2623969.html
2024: Art Plugged, Underrepresented Artists. December. https://artplugged.co.uk/jd-malat-gallery-manager-annie-pereira-talks-about-art-curating-and-underrepresented-artists/
2024: Art Plugged, Contemporary Figuration Between Body and Metaphor, April. https://artplugged.co.uk/contemporary-figuration-between-body-metaphor/
2023: Tatler Magazine, Interior Interiors, Exterior Exteriors. November Issue.
2023: The Londonist, Do You Feature In These Paintings? https://londonist.com/london/art-and-photography/emily-gillbanks-tube-commuter-paintings-temporary-sitters
2023: Temporary Sitters featured in WhyNow, The Mundane Made Extraordinary https://whynow.co.uk/read/the-mundane-made-extraordinary-emily-gillbanks-london-underground-paintings
2023: The Gallery Guide https://www.thegalleryguide.co.uk/exhibitions/emily-gillbanks-temporary-sitters
2023: Artnet Article on Collecting Emerging Talents https://news.artnet.com/buyers-guide/7-questions-jean-david-malat-2023-2252038/amp-page
2022: Royal Overseas League https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/business/21262330.suffolk-artists-shortlisted-scholarship-work-showcased-london/
2021- She Magazine, Issue 4, Available at Tate Modern. https://www.shemagazine.co.uk
2021- Royal College of Art, Painting student wins top award at the Royal Society of British Artists Annual Exhibition, (April 20th 2021) https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/painting-student-wins-top-award-royal-society-british-artists-annual-exhibition/
2021- The Daily Art Magazine, Gokce Dyson, London Mall Galleries: An Interview on Covid-19 and Reopening, (April 19th 2021) <https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/an-interview-with-mall-galleries/>
2021- Telegraph, Tristram Fane Saunders, Look! A Million-Dollar Pixel. Can any good art come from staring at screens? (April 15th 2021) <http://m.email3.telegraph.co.uk/nl/jsp/m.jsp?c=%40kkZMGAH5vVba1CZEFX4w8PlUaFXm6tE6rDuqOQJ8qq0%3D&WT.mc_id=e_DM1388058&WT.tsrc=email&etype=Edi_Cul_NewDesign&utmsource=email&utm_medium=Edi_Cul_NewDesign20210415&utm_campaign=DM1388058>
2021- East Anglian Daily Times, Johnny Griffith, Award-winning artist to have work showcased at Mall Galleries (March 18th 2021) <https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/suffolk-schooled-artist-work-showcased-in-london-7833474>
2021- Royal College of Art, Being together through the screen, https://www.rca.ac.uk/news-and-events/rca-stories/work-progress-2021-art-design-post-covid-world/
2020- I-D, See the winners of the ARTSTHREAD x i-D readers vote, (28th September 2020) https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/7kpnmq/see-the-winners-of-the-artsthread-x-i-d-readers-vote
2020-Portraits For NHS Heroes. Bloomsbury Publishing: Bedford.