No hierarchy exists in the medley of subjects which Alison paints and nothing is too strange. Attracted to objects which she cannot instantly identify but draw her in with their abstract qualities or extreme tonal contrasts, she enjoys the initial intense act of looking and wonder that occurs in the few seconds before the object has been named and recognised. She aims to retain uncertainty and awareness of unknown worlds in the commonplace through a loose painterly technique as well as abstraction. She judges the success of a painting by whether it surprises her, even after many times of looking. Now solely a painter, her practice in the past has involved multimedia, in particular sculpture in the form of peep hole dioramas with angled mirrors eternally reflecting miniature brightly lit shopping malls. Strange and curious work – characteristics which continue in her paintings.
Alison has exhibited in group and solo shows in London and the Southeast, including a recent solo show, Car Parks & Fairy Rings, at the Kaleidoscope Gallery in Sevenoaks. She is also heavily invested in her local community, organising an annual free event for all ages, Art for All, as well as weekly art classes in local villages and tailored painting events for groups. Through her classes and talks to local art societies, she encourages engagement with contemporary art among those who may find it bewildering and inaccessible.
CV
Born Chatham, Kent
Lives and works in Southeast England
Education
2022-23 TURPS Banana Correspondence Course
2013 Fine Art Practice Development postgraduate course, K College Tonbridge, Kent
2011 Fine Art BA (Hons), First Class, University of Greenwich, London
Solo Exhibitions
2021 Car Parks & Fairy Rings, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks
2015 Smell the Porridge, The Old Police Station, Deptford, London
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023 FIBRES, Air Gallery, Altrincham, Manchester
2023 Mud, for you, TURPS CC show, Fitzrovia Gallery, London
2022 Painting Open, no format gallery, London
2022 South East Open Studios, Hartfield, East Sussex
2021-22 Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks, Kent
2019 Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks, Kent
2019 Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Celebrates, The Old Cello Factory, London
2018 Trees of Remembrance, Kaleidoscope Gallery Sevenoaks with Stag Sevenoaks
2018 The Paradox of War, Tonbridge Castle, Kent
2018 Nothing Endures but Change, St John’s Church, Waterloo, London. Curated by The London Group
2018 Embracing the Underdog, Chinatown, London. Curated by The London Group
2018 Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open, Kaleidoscope Gallery, selected by ARTHOUSE 1
2017 Shoreham Sculpture Trail. Curated by The London Group
2016 Bad Behaviour Open, Brixton East, London
2015 Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open, Kaleidoscope Gallery, selected by Mascalls Gallery, Paddock Wood, Kent
2015 Oddities and Nonsense, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks, Kent
2015 The Poor Door, A-side B-side Gallery, Amhurst Terrace, London
2015 ZeitgieistArtProjects Summer Exhibition, Goodwood Road, London
2015 Paper Works, Hundred Years Gallery, Pearson Street, London
2014 Red Xmas, Studio 1.1 Gallery, 57a Redchurch Street, Shoreditch, London
2014 Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks, Kent
2014 A Fine Line, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks, Kent
2013 Dialogue, Neurophysiology Dept, Kings College Hospital, London
2012 Curiously Connected, The Coningsby Gallery, Tottenham Street, London
2012 Applied Imagination, 111 Great Titchfield Street, London
2011 Beneath the Surface, DegreeArt.com Gallery, Vyner Street, London
Selected Projects, Events and Talks
2021/22 Catalogue cover – Coming On. Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open
2022 Talk – Cubism – Creating the Symbolic, Tunbridge Wells Art Society, Tunbridge Wells, Kent
2021 Talk – Car Parks & Fairy Rings – Abstraction, Heterotopia and the Contemporary Sublime, Kaleidoscope Gallery Sevenoaks, Kent
2019 Project – Celebratory Giant Film Strip, Stag Wall, Stage Cinema, Sevenoaks, Kent
2019 Event – Paint Like Turner Fundraiser, Hartfield Village Hall, East Sussex
2017 & 2019 Event – Art for All, St Mary’s Church, Hartfield, East Sussex
2015 & 2016 Event – The Big Draw, St Mary’s Church, Hartfield, East Sussex
2015 Project – A Slice of Eggpie Lane – Poems of a delicate essence and delight, nonsense poetry book. Illustration, editing and publishing.
2015 Talk – The Importance of Being Flippant, talk to Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum, Kent
2014/15 Project – Paper Works, Collaborative Project sponsored by a-n
Alison Berry 