Morag Caister b. 1994 is an award-winning London based artist exploring figuration, working in the mediums of oils and pastel on paper and calico/raw canvas. Since graduating from her Painting BA at the University of Brighton in 2019 Caister has exhibited in significant galleries and art fairs in the UK and abroad such as Glyndebourne, Blue Shop Cottage, Mall Galleries, Compton Verney and Supermarket Art Fair Stockholm, with her first solo show taking place last summer in Tirana, Albania. Caister is this years winner of the series Portrait Artist of the Year, televised by Sky Arts. The prize commission portrait of Sir Lenny Henry hangs permanently in The National Portrait Gallery, making her one of the youngest artists in the collection. Caister is currently a candidate for Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe: Art & Culture.
Tender, truthful, touching. Morag Caister’s figures hold their spaces on the page with a truth that goes beyond mere slavish representation. Her characters are honest, open, engaged and, despite the fragmentation of colour from which they are composed, have a strange fullness and completeness about them that somehow allows you to understand them and their physicality in the space. Caister’s bodies are sparingly filled in, often floating, lost in the emptiness of the space that surrounds them, and her delicacy of touch, her understanding of, and sheer brilliance with line add up to something wholly persuasive and singularly seductive.
Kathleen Soriano (Independent Curator, Cultural Consultant, Broadcaster)
Education
University of Brighton, BA, Painting, 2019
Brighton Metropolitan College, Foundation, Art & Design, 2014
Exhibitions
2022
Albania, Tirana, Gallery 70 - 'Looking For Peace' (Solo Exhibition)
Sweden, Stockholm, Gallery 70 - 'Supermarket Art Fair'
London, Blue Shop Cottage - 'Works on Paper 4'
London, The Truman Brewery - 'The Other Art Fair'
Warwickshire, Compton Verney Art Gallery - 'Portrait Artist of the Year: The Exhibition', curated by Kathleen Soriano
Rochdale, Touchstones Gallery; Sheffield, Millenium Gallery; Sunderland Museum - The Football Art Prize touring exhibition
2021
Glyndebourne, Gallery 94 - 'Fairground I', curated by Nerissa Taysom
London, Mall Galleries - 'Figurative Art Now'
Brighton Fringe - 'ALTERED'
Glyndebourne Arts Festival, Gallery 94 - 'Forces of Nature', curated by Nerissa Taysom
Brighton Fringe - 'Artists Open Houses'
London, Ruth Borchard Collection - 'Self-Portrait Prize 2021'
London, Blue Shop Cottage - 'Works on Paper 3'
London Paint Club - 'Fresh Perspectives', curated by Kelly Foster
2020
Glyndebourne, Gallery 94 - 'Fairground', curated by Nerissa Taysom
London, Mall Galleries - 'ING Discerning Eye 2020'
Albania, Tirana, Destil Arts Centre - 'Allie, Joe, Morag'
2019
London, The Truman Brewery - 'Free Range'
Brighton, The University of Brighton - 'Degree Show'
Hove Museum - 'Material Practices'
Albania, Tirana, Destil Arts Centre - '…&…'
Prizes & Shortlists
Jackson's Painting Prize, UK, 2023 (Longlist)
Forbes 30 Under 30, Art & Culture, Europe, 2023 (Candidate)
Portrait Artist of the Year, UK, 2022 (winner)
Partnership Editions Open Call, UK, 2022 (winner), selected by Yomi Adegoke
The Football Art Prize, UK, 2022 (shortlist)
EROS Award, The Curators, New York/France, 2021 (winner), selected by Diana Widmaier Picasso
Self-Portrait Prize, Ruth Borchard Collection, UK, 2021 (shortlist)
Portrait Artist of the Year, UK, 2020 (semi-finalist)
Collections
The National Portrait Gallery, London 2023
Cecconi's Bicester Village, Soho House, 2022
Brighton Beach House, Soho House, 2022
Press
Portrait Artist of The Year Series 9, Exclusive Winner's Interview with Cassart
Making A Mark (Katherine Tyrrell) Review: Winner's Episode, Painting Sir Lenny Henry
Soho House Artist Spotlights: Anastasiia Fedorova Interviews Morag Caister
Broadcast
Unity House, Sky Arts, Stories from the National Portrait Gallery, UK, 2023
Storyvault Films, Sky Arts, Portrait Artist of the Year Series 9, UK, 2022
Storyvault Films, Sky Arts, Portrait Artist of the Year: The Exhibition, UK, 2022
Storyvault Films, Sky Arts, Portrait Artist of the Year Series 7, UK, 2020