Gallery 106 is delighted announce a solo exhibition of work by Judith Walker, a fine artist who has been practising in London for many years. She also has an established reputation as a cartoonist. Walker’s art finds ways to engage her audience to give them a feeling of inclusivity within their environment and community. She creates folds within cloth, which are given meaning through colour, to represent the folds of the soul. These are intended to create a portal through which to draw in the viewer in and provide a space to think away from the pressures of our consumer society.

The exhibition will consist of a site-specific immersive installation in Gallery 106, Behind the Curtain II. It takes the form of a spray painted canvas that drops the full height of the gallery’s two floors, appearing to go through the solid floor to continue to the space below and flowing out of the wall onto the floor. The installation was inspired by Walker’s childhood memories of playing hide and seek behind the curtains; Being in a space where it is possible to experience the contrast of the cold dark night outside and the warmth of the living room and protective adults.

Prints of details of Behind the Curtain I will be exhibited alongside.

There will be a video performance, of Walker’s piece Womb performed by actress Barbara Barnes, an exploration of human movement within the folds.

At the Private view Mark Say will read his story Colour Between the Folds that was inspired by Walker’s curtain piece at 19:30.

Judith Walker was born 1955 in Leeds, Yorkshire. She moved to London in 1974 to go to Central St Martins School of Art where she obtained a BA Hons degree in fine art and was a winner of the Winsor and Newton young artist award. She then moved to the USA to study for her first Masters at New Mexico State University. She recently did her second Masters at Birkbeck in 2015. Since returning to the UK in 1980 she has had a practice in south east London. Throughout this time, Judith has had many one-person exhibitions at venues including: the Royal Academy of Arts Staff Gallery; Conway Hall, London: South Square Gallery, Bradford; Bradford University Gallery; Watermans Art Centre, London and The Portico Library and Gallery, Manchester.

She has also exhibited in many group show such as: The New Contemporaries, Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition: Royal Overseas League Annual; Acme Project Space, London; Festival Show Fruit Market Gallery Edinburgh; Male Formy Grafiki, Poland and South West Print and Drawing Exhibition, USA. She has completed major public works of art for South Bank University and Peckham Library. Her work is also included in public and private collections including New Mexico State University, Rank Xerox, Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Poland and Paintings in Hospitals.

Alongside her fine art work Judith has also has a significant career as a cartoonist doing regular cartoons for The Sun, New Humanist magazine and many other publications. She was recently a cartoonist in residence at UCL Hospital London.