Olivia Sterling
Sterling (b.1996) is a London-based painter whose vividly coloured, tightly composed works examine race, class, gender and social status through scenes of everyday British life. Often set in domestic interiors or public spaces, her paintings combine fragmented bodies, food and familiar cultural references with sharp humour to expose both the subtle and overt manifestations of racism. Recurring motifs -including Victoria sponge and Colin the Caterpillar cakes as well as cheap bottles of booze and sausages, root her work in a distinctly British visual language while questioning the assumptions embedded within it.
For the exhibition, Sterling presents three paintings - French Noises (oh la la) (2024), And I'd do it Again (2025) and Eating Disorders Erecticle Disjunction (2026). They extend her painterly exploration of class, gender and race politics as she makes the familiar subversively comic and strange through the colour palette, close-up framing and frank subject-matter.
Sterling has exhibited internationally, with solo exhibitions at Meyer Riegger, Basel and Berlin, and a residency at the Palazzo Monti in 2024, as well as shows at CCA Goldsmiths, London and East Gallery, Norwich. Her work is collected by FRAC collections and the Walker Art Gallery. She is represented by Meyer Riegger, Basel and Berlin.