b. 1984, United Kingdom

Mary Ramsden Biography

London-based English artist Mary Ramsden is predominantly a painter of seemingly soft, minimal, abstract works that explore the interplay of smooth geometry, simple but powerful colour palettes, and painterly gesture. Over her career, the artist's work has been exhibited in prominent galleries across London including Tate Britain, Royal Academy of Arts, Saatchi Gallery, Fiorucci Art Trust, Pilar Corrias, and Kinman, as well as overseas in State of Concept Athens and the Aspen Art Museum.

Read More

After studying at the Leith School of Art and Edinburgh College of Art, Ramsden went on to study at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, under the influence of Richard Kirwan, Brian Griffiths, and Vanessa Jackson, graduating in 2013. This was followed in 2015 by a two-month American residency at Steep Rock Arts, Connecticut. Over the course of her education, the budding artist developed a fascination and principle concern with the nature of abstract painting itself and how to make it into a progressive language.

Ramsden's practice revolves around creating painted objects with an apparent compositional unity that conceals the complex nature of their production. Refusing any reading beyond form itself, her art is seemingly simplistic, subtly combining smooth planes and singular voluminous forms sporting hard edges with jarring, gestural, painterly marks in a seamless fashion. With a palette dominated by one or two colours, all tonal hues are pushed to the edges. However, beneath the smooth surface and hard edges created with wide brush strokes and enhanced by cloth and sandpaper wiping, one detects a sense of movement and fierce energy between the layers of paint. Working on the floor, the artist turns her canvas, where the paint impacts with force, into a battlefield of antagonistic forces—forces that create and undo, highlight and conceal, give and take—that she works with in control from above until their conflicts are resolved.

Careful thought is put into every contrast and connection between colour, shape, and painterly mark. Each incremental adjustment in palette, scale, and variation of gestural strokes is made within a broader emphasis on experimentation—both a driving force and a core subject in Ramsden's artwork. For the group exhibition I'm here but you've gone (Fiorucci Art Trust, London, 2015), curated by Milovan Farronato and Stella Bottai, along with the other participants Ramsden was challenged to explore scent as a medium, pushing further the boundaries of contemporary art and the artist's own practice.

Throughout her work Ramsden has retained a preoccupation with the edge as a formal subject to experiment with. In artworks like *hurls not girls (2015) this preoccupation is combined with an exploration of modern, digitally oriented life. The work speaks to the sharp edges, sliding, scrolling, and cropping of smartphones. Bringing the painterly into technology-fixated modern life, the exhibition Swipe (Pilar Corrias, London, 2015), included a series that mimics the black neon-tinted palette, sharp forms, and gestural movements (the smudges of fingers across a black touch screen) through which one engages with digital media.

Ocula | 2019

Mary Ramsden
featured artworks

Fuzzy Matter by Mary Ramsden contemporary artwork painting
Mary Ramsden Fuzzy Matter, 2024 Oil on canvas
190 x 140 cm
Pilar Corrias Request Price & Availability
Thwait by Mary Ramsden contemporary artwork painting
Mary Ramsden Thwait, 2024 Oil on canvas
190 x 140 cm
Pilar Corrias Request Price & Availability
Untitled by Mary Ramsden contemporary artwork painting
Mary Ramsden Untitled, 2024 Oil on canvas
170 x 120 cm
Pilar Corrias Request Price & Availability
Schism Chasm by Mary Ramsden contemporary artwork painting
Mary Ramsden Schism Chasm, 2024 Oil on canvas
200 x 140 cm
Pilar Corrias Request Price & Availability
Silent Disco by Mary Ramsden contemporary artwork painting
Mary Ramsden Silent Disco, 2024 Oil on canvas
220 x 170 cm
Pilar Corrias Request Price & Availability

Mary Ramsden
current & recent
exhibitions

View 7 More
View 7 More

Represented by this
Ocula Member Gallery

View 7 More
Learn more about the market for works
by Mary Ramsden.
Enquire for a confidential discussion. Enquire Now
Simon Fisher, Ocula CEO
Ocula Advisor
Simon Fisher
Christoper Taylor, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Christopher Taylor
Eva Fuchs, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Eva Fuchs
Rory Mitchell, Ocula Advisor
Ocula Advisor
Rory Mitchell

Mary Ramsden in
Ocula Advisory

Mary Ramsden in
video & audio

Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Follow Mary Ramsden
Stay ahead.
Receive updates on new artworks,
exhibitions and articles.
Your personal data is held in accordance with our privacy policy.
Follow
Do you have an Ocula account?
Ocula discover the best in contemporary art icon.
Get Access
Join Ocula to request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Do you have an Ocula account? Login
What best describes your interest in art?

Subscribe to our newsletter for upcoming exhibitions, available works, events and more.
By clicking Sign Up or Continue with Facebook or Google, you agree to Ocula's Terms & Conditions. Your personal data is held in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you for joining us. Just one more thing...
Soon you will receive an email asking you to complete registration. If you do not receive it then you can check and edit the email address you entered.
Close
Thank you for joining us.
You can now request price and availability of artworks, exhibition price lists and build a collection of favourite artists, galleries and artworks.
Close
Welcome back to Ocula
Enter your email address and password below to login.
Reset Password
Enter your email address to receive a password reset link.
Reset Link Sent
We have sent you an email containing a link to reset your password. Simply click the link and enter your new password to complete this process.
Login