Spotlight
Feature Amy Beager, figurative art’s fresh new voice
Championed by Melissa Digby-Bell
Visual Arts
Above Somnolence, Amy Beager
Acrylic and oil on canvas
80 x 60cm
ONES TO
WATCH
WATCH
ONES TO
WATCH
WATCH
Above Amy Beager in her studio
Interview
Amy Beager and Melissa Digby-Bell
Interview
Amy Beager and Melissa Digby-Bell
After starting her career at White Cube and going on to manage the studios of high-profile artists Marc Quinn and Anish Kapoor, Melissa Digby-Bell launched Offshoot Arts in 2020 – a hybrid consultancy and gallery drawing on her passion for discovering and nurturing artistic talent and supporting and promoting emerging and mid-career international artists.
This is how Melissa met artist Amy Beager and her bold and graphic reimaginations of mythological characters.
This is how Melissa met artist Amy Beager and her bold and graphic reimaginations of mythological characters.
Above Amy Beager, Offshoot Arts. Created by Georgina Rothman
Digby-Bell says: “Amy Beager has re-imagined figurative painting with her bold colour juxtapositions; figures rendered in a simultaneously classical yet modern style, reminiscent of fashion imagery; and compositions which are exquisitely romantic and poetic. Amy had the courage to focus and commit to her art practice full time a couple of years ago, and I have great admiration for her dedication to her work.”
In just a few short years, Amy Beager has gone from graduating from Nottingham Trent University in 2010 to exhibiting her work in London in 2019 and being selected as a winner for the Delphian Gallery Open Call 2020. Her painting ‘The Blue Room’ is currently on display at Saatchi Gallery as part of the group exhibition ‘Antisocial Isolation’ curated by Delphian Gallery. Her work has also been acquired by Soho House and private collections throughout Europe, Australia, the US, Taiwan and Canada.
Drawing on early modernism and neo-expressionism from the late 1980s, Beager presents an imaginative and alternate reality, using the human form as a vessel to explore emotions and hidden narratives through a dramatic use of colour and expressive lines.
Digby-Bell adds: “I have always championed emerging artists, ever more crucial in this current climate and all the challenges that creatives face. Amy’s work is intimate, alluring and vibrant – exactly the kind of uplifting work that many of us need right now! I am proud to work with her and I am super excited to launch a solo online presentation of Amy’s new paintings in April. Amy’s work ethic, confidence in her vision, and the significant attention her work attracts, has proved my instincts right – that this artist is one who deserves support, praise and is certainly one to watch for the future.”
In addition to exhibiting a new body of work for an online presentation with Offshoot Arts, which will be featured on the Offshoot Arts Artsy profile in April, Beager will also hopefully (guidelines permitting) be taking part in an artist residency with CloverMill in The Netherlands in May and exhibitions with The Curators, The Contemporary London x Purslane and Grove Collective.
In just a few short years, Amy Beager has gone from graduating from Nottingham Trent University in 2010 to exhibiting her work in London in 2019 and being selected as a winner for the Delphian Gallery Open Call 2020. Her painting ‘The Blue Room’ is currently on display at Saatchi Gallery as part of the group exhibition ‘Antisocial Isolation’ curated by Delphian Gallery. Her work has also been acquired by Soho House and private collections throughout Europe, Australia, the US, Taiwan and Canada.
Drawing on early modernism and neo-expressionism from the late 1980s, Beager presents an imaginative and alternate reality, using the human form as a vessel to explore emotions and hidden narratives through a dramatic use of colour and expressive lines.
Digby-Bell adds: “I have always championed emerging artists, ever more crucial in this current climate and all the challenges that creatives face. Amy’s work is intimate, alluring and vibrant – exactly the kind of uplifting work that many of us need right now! I am proud to work with her and I am super excited to launch a solo online presentation of Amy’s new paintings in April. Amy’s work ethic, confidence in her vision, and the significant attention her work attracts, has proved my instincts right – that this artist is one who deserves support, praise and is certainly one to watch for the future.”
In addition to exhibiting a new body of work for an online presentation with Offshoot Arts, which will be featured on the Offshoot Arts Artsy profile in April, Beager will also hopefully (guidelines permitting) be taking part in an artist residency with CloverMill in The Netherlands in May and exhibitions with The Curators, The Contemporary London x Purslane and Grove Collective.
About the champion
Melissa Digby-Bell has worked in the contemporary art sector since 2002, following a degree in History of Art at the University of Bristol. Her career began at White Cube, going on to manage the studios of high-profile artists Marc Quinn and Anish Kapoor. In 2014, Melissa co-founded curatorial partnership and consultancy Mehta Bell Projects.
In 2020, Melissa launched Offshoot Arts – a hybrid consultancy and gallery dedicated to supporting and promoting emerging and mid-career international artists.
“Amy’s work is intimate, alluring and vibrant – exactly the kind of uplifting work that many of us need right now.”
Melissa Digby-Bell
Above Amy Beager, Tilted, 2021, Acrylic, oil and collage on canvas, 60 x 80cm
Above Amy Beager, Perfume. 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 150 x 100cm
Above Amy Beager, Lilac Wine, 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm
Above Amy Beager, I can only see you, 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 120 x 100cm
Above Amy Beager, Can’t do without you, 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 100 x 100cm
Above Amy Beager, Hero, 2021, acrylic, collage and oil on canvas, 80 x 60cm
Above Amy Beager, Tilted, 2021, Acrylic, oil and collage on canvas, 60 x 80cm
Above Amy Beager, Perfume. 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 150 x 100cm
Above Amy Beager, Lilac Wine, 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 40 x 50cm
Above Amy Beager, I can only see you, 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 120 x 100cm
Above Amy Beager, Can’t do without you, 2021, acrylic and oil on canvas, 100 x 100cm
Above Amy Beager, Hero, 2021, acrylic, collage and oil on canvas, 80 x 60cm
