Bio:
Sam Creasey (b1993) Is a British Artist originally from Maidstone and now working in London. He is graduate of MA Painting 2020 at the Royal College of Art and is part of the college’s permeant collection. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Nimby’ (2024) at Andrew Reed Gallery Miami, The Right Honourable at The Shophouse Hong Kong (2024) and The Best of Bees (2023) at Quip and Curiosity, Cambridge UK. He has recently exhibited in group exhibitions with Bernheim London, Alice Amati Gallery, The Royal Institute of British Architecture and MOM Seattle. His paintings explore the synthesis distinctly British populaces have with their built surroundings and their contributing socio-political inclinations.
Artist Statement:
Sam Creasey is a British artist whose practice centres on painting, informed by a deep engagement with place and national identity. Originally from Kent in Southeast England and now based in London, he draws inspiration from both regions, exploring humanity’s tactile relationship with nationhood and the physical and constitutional structures that shape it. Architecture, emotion, and the sociological reverberations of power—whether rooted in late-stage capitalism, rapid technological change, public services, or urban expansion—form recurring threads in the work. These uncannily representational paintings often appear jaded and jagged, echoing the steel, concrete, and glass of the metropolis.
While speaking to universal themes, Creasey’s practice is grounded in a personal relationship with the UK, particularly its complex history of global entanglement. This perspective fuels an interest in what Sam sees as a national identity crisis: a country negotiating the tension between its past and its future.
In addition to oil painting, hybrid works are created combining painting, ceramics, and bespoke artist frames or “vessels,” which function as miniature stage sets or tableaux—microcosms of contemporary life. These works draw on observations gathered through psychogeographic explorations, mapping the relationship between place and meaning.
Sam’s part-time work as a technician, often working in government and civil service buildings, divulges access to Whitehall offices, embassies, and other sites steeped in historical regalia and institutional ritual. These symbols of institutional identity are subtly interwoven into the work’s visual language.
The creative process often begins with physical and digital collages, moving into architectural-style drawings before evolving into finished works. Balancing precise, geometric planning with the uncertainty of ceramic practice, Sam embraces clay’s fragility as a metaphor for human frailty. Recurring motifs of motion, journey, and transition thread through the work, which seeks out idiosyncrasies within an increasingly homogenised landscape. The resulting pieces evoke the aura of relics and ley lines—at once ancient and modern—unearthed from the layers of contemporary life.
Education:
2018 - 2020: MA Painting. Royal College of Art
2013 - 2016: BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting. University of Brighton
Exhibitions:
2025:
Twilight Contemporary - 'Running Through London' - Group show, London, UK.
Solo show: The Shophouse - 'Dark Waters' - Hong Kong, China.
Basel Social Club - Group show - Former Vontobel Bank, Basel, Switzerland.
Dallas Art Fair - Andrew Reed Gallery - Group Booth.
Gallery Yusto/Giner: 'Behind The Order of Things' - Group Show - Madrid, Spain.
2024:
ACK fair Kyoto - Presented by The Shophouse Hong Kong - Kyoto, Japan.
West Bund Art Fair Shanghai - Presented by The Shophouse Hong Kong - Shanghai, China.
Alice Amati Gallery - 'Panta Rhei' - Group show - London, UK.
Solo show: Andrew Reed Gallery - ‘Nimby‘ - Miami, USA.
Solo show: The Shop House - ‘The Right Honourable’ - Hong Kong, China.
2023:
Solo Show: Quipp and Curiosity - ‘The Best of Bees’ Cambridge, UK.
ABR Contemporary - ‘Horizon line’ Group show - Miami, USA.
Andrew Reed Gallery - ‘In the Heat of the Night’ Group Show - New York, USA.
Bernheim - ‘The Big Chill’ - Group show - London, UK.
Sindbad - ‘Sindbad: I can see land’ - Group show, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
2022:
Royal Institute of British Architecture - Future Archive - Group show - London, UK.
Alice’s Oyster Bar and Gallery - ‘Waverton Art Prize’ - ‘Ungelded’ (2022) included in prize shortlist exhibition - London, UK.
RCA Degree show - Barge House, OXO Tower Wharf, London, UK.
Paradise Row - ‘City Entwined’ - Group show - London, UK.
ABR Contemporary - ‘Abstraction Through Figuration’ - Group show - Miami, USA.
2021:
Museum of Museums - ‘In Crystallized Time’ - Group show – Seattle, USA.
Filet - ‘The Age of Sagittarius’ - two person show with Damon Owen - London, UK.
2020
No 20 Arts - ‘Wintergreen Boxwood’ - Group Show – London, UK.
Fold Gallery - ‘50/50’ - Group show – London, UK.
The Royal College of Art - ‘Show 2020’ - Online Degree Show. - London, UK.
Unit 1 Gallery Workshop - ‘Final, Not Over: Open Fields’ - Group Show – London, UK.
Josh Lilley Gallery - ‘Beacons’ - Online Group show – London, UK.
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery (London Bridge space) - ‘RCA x Slade’ - Group Show – London, UK.
Saatchi Gallery - ‘London Grads Now’ - Group show London, UK.
2019
Dyson Gallery (RCA Battersea) - ‘Future Archive’ - Group show curated by Rut Blees Luxemburg – London, UK.
The Function Suite - ‘Get More Stuff’ - Group show – London, UK.
12-19 Hoxton Street - ‘Layers online: Creative Community Exhibition’ - Group Show – London, UK.
The Coningsby Gallery - ‘Cream Athens Presents: Whipped’ - Group Show – London, UK.
The Royal College of Art - ‘Work in progress show (WIP) ‘ - Group Show – London, UK.
Red lion Boy’s Club Guardianship - ‘Secret Boys Club Open House’ - Group Show – London, UK.
2018
Euston Rail Station - ‘To Hope’ An MTArt Exhibition Curated by Marine Tanguy - Group Show - London, UK.
The Take Courage Gallery – ‘Millennial Fever’ – Solo Show – London, UK.
SE9 Container Gallery - ‘Millennial Fever II’ - Solo Show – Eltham, UK.
Publications:
2021: 'Future Archive' - A hardback book detailing a group research project responding to construction in London. My work and text included alongside others. Curated by Rut Blees Luxemburg. Published by Folium Publishing.
2021: Cover image for Issue 4 of 'The Dark Preview'. Curated by Rut Blees Luxemburg and Casper Laing.
2020: ‘The Scaffold’ - ring bound book I contributed to alongside other artists. Published by Folium Publishing.
2014: Elipsis Journal: "Issue 01: A"
2018: Friend Of The Artist magazine volume 6. Feature and interview 2018
2018: Glyndebourne Tour art competition winner:’For Love nor Money’ (2017) featured on the cover of the annual opera tour magazine.
Collections:
By Art Matters Collection - Hangzhou. Aquired in 2024
The Royal College of Art Collection: ‘Night Shift’ (2019) - Oil on canvas - 150cm x 100cm. Acquired in 2019.
The Simon Nixon Collection. Acquired in 2022.