Every spring I look forward to the buzz of the London art school degree show season. It is one of the best ways to keep your finger on the pulse of emerging art trends in the capital. Central Saint Martins is usually the first and it’s open to the public from 23-27 May. If you missed it, here is my selection.
These are nice, but they tend to support my impression that there’s nothing much happening that’s actually new – Edward Lucie-Smith
The London degree show season is where Visual Arts students are given the opportunity to showcase the work that has formed the basis of their degrees. – P C Robinson Artlyst Editor
I was glad to see a strong range of varying styles of painting this year. Of Note MA: Chih I Chen for erotic gender studies, the winner of the Cass Art Prize for painting 2018, Tingwei Liang MA for a series of Monkey paintings,
BA painting of note: Vincent Hart winner of the Slate Resort Residency the best abstract painter this year. Sophie Castle a figurative painter of considerable talent.
I showed my painting selection this year to the art critic Edward Lucie Smith who replied; ” These are nice, but they tend to support my impression that there’s nothing much happening that’s actually new. It’s a reversion to the realism of the 1930s and abstraction of the 1960″
Perhaps innovation isn’t in the painted medium. There was certainly a lot of installation and performance art of interest at this year’s show.
History of CSM: Saint Martin’s School of Art was established in 1854, and the Central School of Art, founded in 1896. The Central School grew out of the Arts & Crafts movement.
The school’s first principal was the architect William Richard Lethaby. He removed the barriers between the intellectualism of design and practical skills of production. He likened learning through theory and scholarship alone to learning to swim out of water.
Both Saint Martin’s School of Art and the Central School became known in the 20th century for radical visual arts practice. In 1989, the two merged to become what is known today as Central Saint Martins. Additionally the Drama Centre London merged in 1999 and the Byam Shaw School of Art in 2003.
Everyone who has exhibited in this show deserves an applause. It was one of the strongest from CSM in many years!
Special thanks to all graduating Central Saint Martins students:
BA (HONS) FINE ART Central Saint Martins , Agnès Biro, Aidan Wallace, Akari Yasuda, Alexandra Budarina, Alexandra Fraser, Alice Kim, Alix Emery, Aly Williamson, Amal Ahmed, Amira Fares ,Aruna Kerek, Avely Vain, Ayse Kipri, Azra Prw Pg Hasnan, Bella McElwain ,Bess Chan, Bethan Price, Billy Sassi, Binbin Zhou, Brittany Rochford, Bronte Sapsford, Bryony Leeson, Callum Nixon, Campbell Mcconnell, Camille Smith, Carianne Annan, Carmen Ng, Catriona Parnell, Cez McKend, Chi Bagtas, Chloe Abrahams, Chloe Manning, Cicely Haslam, Claire Pritchard, Connie Search, Cybi Williams, Daisy Brown, David Berrebi, David Lee, Dongyan Chen, Eilidh Hodgson, Eleanor Hall, Elizabeth Merrill, Ellen Watson, Elliot Stew, Elliot Hewgill, Elliott Haigh, Elora Kadir, Emily Larkin, Emma Clayton, Eunhong Kang, Eve Rusk, Frances Gibson, Freya Nash, Gabrielle Browne, Gemma Kearns, Gillies Semple, Gordon Berger, Hannah Doucet, Gabrielle Browne, Gemma Kearns, Gillies Semple, Ida Ocopnick, Ione Riley, Isabella Ridler, James Miller, Iona Mitchell, Jaana-Kristiina Alakoski, Jemima Thomas, Jenevieve Han, Jessica Donnelly, Jiaqi Zhuang, Jim Bicknell-Knight, Jiyeon Lee, Jiyoung Park , Jo Kitchen, Joanna Townley, Joseph Nichol, Joslin Rashleigh, Joshua Von Uexkull, Juan Mateus Vargas, Julia Muccio, Ka I Ng, Kana Ikezawa, Karis Crawford, Khaitan Aiankrita, Kiri Emmerson, Krzysztof Tralewski, Léa Porré, Linus Rowe, Lisa Darrer, Luke Harding, Madeleine Wilkie, Manon Steyaert, Maryam Adigozal-zada, Marina Nikitina, Matilda Little, Matthew Wang, Megan Baker, MingYee Lee, Molly Beard, Molly Bridgwood, Nana Sawada, Nicolas Canal Tinius , Niranjana Jawahar, Nisha Desai, Philip Alcock, Philippa Brabyn, Rakel Lindgren, Rebecca Hancock, Rosemarie Back, Roy Wong, Saidie Vian, Sam Chapman, Samuel Li, Samuel O’Neill, Sasha Gates, Serena Child, Shana Johnson, Sidney Smith, Siobhan Wood, Sneha Joshi, Sophie Castle, Sophie Popper, Tamami Mizutani, Threer Yan, Thora Chwae, Tim Adams, Tiyana Pentland, Tom Bull, Tori Wilding, Vanessa Loera Castro, Vincent Hart, Wing Chun Ng, Yangbo Liu, Yiming Sun, Yin Yi Fung, Yoon Bae, Yunjeong Lee
MA FINE ART Central Saint Martins , AJ Laas, Aleksandr Tishkov, Boaz Torfstein, Camila Gonzalez Corea, Chih-I Chen, Emma Starkey, Emma J Walsh, Fabio Dartizio, Harley Price, Helen Pilkington, Hyun Ah Kwon, Jie Fu, Joe RichardsonJolanta Basov, , Kang Gao, Katarina Rankovic, Marco Bertuzzo, Marco Pantaleoni, Mariiia Fedorova, Marylyn Molisso, Natalie Lambert, Orna Kazimi, Pierre-Antoine Martin, Shu Zhang, Sofia Bonato Susana Uvidia, Theresa Goessmann, Tiffany Howe, Tingwei Liang, Tom Cardew, Vanessa Delp, Xinyi Feng, Xuefei Li, Yuqi Wei
MA ART AND SCIENCE Central Saint Martins Ainne Burke, Allison Barclay-Michaels, Amy Starmar, Bekk Wells ,Caglar Tahiroglu, Chang Zhou, Chris Makin, Eleonora Sher, Gary Scott, Hazel Chiang, Helen Cawley, Jill Mueller, Julie Light, Lisa Pettibone, Liv Bargman, Meri Lahti, Olga Suchanova, Pandora Peng, Priya Odedra, Rebecca Leach McDonald, Reggy Liu, Stephen Bennett, Tere Chad Victoria Westerman
MA PHOTOGRAPHY Central Saint Martins Arthur Trombetta, Asa Desouza-Jones, Carla Benzing, Diana Lloyd, Elena Larsson, Hongjia Liu, Lexi Sun, Luke Payne, Lynda Beckett, Matthew Greenburgh, Max Stanley, Michael Cheung, Nathalie Miebach, Niloofar Taatizadeh, Susanna Brunetti, Vinicius Assencio, Yajing Hu, You He
See Other London Degree Shows 2018