Biographical Details:

Curtis Holder (born Leicester, 1968) is a London based artist who works primarily in graphite and coloured pencil to create large-scale portraits and figurative works on paper.

In 2020, Holder achieved widespread recognition by winning the prestigious Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year competition, with judges praising his work as “magical” and “startlingly new”. Since then, he has continued to garner critical acclaim and awards, including The John Ruskin Prize which he won in 2024. Holder has exhibited widely in the UK and in Paris. His work is held in private and public collections including the National Portrait Gallery, the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Soho House and the National Theatre where he became the theatre’s first ever Artist in Residence in 2022. 

Holder, who studied at Kingston University and Central Saint Martins, London, is a member of the Contemporary British Portrait Painters, The Pastel Society and an Associate Member of the Society of Graphic Fine Art.

Method of Working:

I use line to investigate motivations, connections and conversations, working in pencil to create large portraits and figurative drawings. Whenever possible I draw subjects from life as conversation is the starting point of all my work. Through mark making I translate our dialogue into something more complex, presenting deeper layers of emotion while recording the passage our time together. My drawings emerge in a wayward series of febrile lines, which I layer to reveal form, movement and emotional intent. Preliminary marks remain on the paper, as I capture fleeting gestures and emotions. If the marks initially appear erratic, when resolved, the drawings convey calm and stillness. This contradiction encourages the viewer, myself included, to return to the work to unravel the threads leading to the core of the conversation. My subjects sit within large amounts of negative space. These compositions enable me to take up space in a way that I, and my sitters, feel unable to in daily life.

Society Memberships:

Member, The Pastel Society (PS) | 2024 - Present

Associate Member, The Society of Graphic Fine Art (SGFA) | 2021 - Present

Member, Contemporary British Portrait Painters (CBPP) | 2021 - Present

Derwent Artist Ambassador | 2021 - Present

Awards and Prizes:

Winner, President’s Award, Society of Graphic Fine Art | 2024

Winner (First Prize), The John Ruskin Prize | 2024

Longlist, The Aesthetica Art Prize | 2024

Winner, The Tom Coates Memorial Prize, The Pastel Society | 2024

Winner, Drawing with a Dry-Based Medium Award, The Gallery at Green & Stone and St Cuthberts Mill | 2024

Winner, Guildford House Open | 2023

Highly Commended, RBSA Drawing Prize | 2023

Shortlist, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize | 2022

Winner, St Cuthberts Mill Award, Wells Art Contemporary (WAC) | 2022

Shortlist, The Derwent Art Prize | 2022

Winner, The Anthony J Lester Art Critic Award, The Pastel Society | 2022

Winner, The Frank Herring & Sons Award, The Pastel Society | 2022

Highly Commended, UK Coloured Pencil Society | 2021

Highly Commended Award, Society of Graphic Fine Art | 2021

Longlist, The Self-Portrait Prize, Ruth Borchard Collection | 2021

Highly Commended, The British Art Prize | 2021

Longlist, Jackson’s Painting Prize | 2021

Winner, Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year, Series 7 | 2020

Collections: 

National Portrait Gallery, London, UK | 2023

National Theatre, London, UK | 2023

Little House Balham, Soho House, London, UK | 2022

40 Greek Street, Soho House, London, UK | 2021

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham, UK | 2020

International private collections

Residencies:

Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds | 2023-24

National Theatre, London | 2022 -23

Exhibitions:

For a list of past exhibitions, please see: www.curtisholder.co.uk/exhibitions-and-awards

Artist Gallery:


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