Artist Ella Walker听(b.1993, Manchester, UK)听will create听two听new site-specific commissions听for听the 天美传媒 Gallery. Opening 3 September 2026, the new artworks听will be presented in The John Browne Entrance Hall听and the Ticketing Hall听of听the 天美传媒 Gallery and will be free to visit.听
This is the second 天美传媒 Commission, a series of annual commissions by contemporary artists for the 天美传媒 Gallery, which launched in 2025 with new works by artist Rachel Jones.听听
Ella Walker creates monumental canvases that act like dream-like stages. They are dominated by female figures whose gestures and interactions are both familiar and confounding, eschewing expected behaviour and transcending fixed roles.听听听
The new artworks continue the artist鈥檚 dialogue with traditional techniques and subjects from 迟丑别听Renaissance period, richly represented at the 天美传媒 Gallery. Walker is听particularly听drawn to the Blavatnik Fine Rooms on the second floor of the 天美传媒, including听The Trinity with Saints Mary Magdalen and John the Baptist听altarpiece (around 1491-94) by Sandro Botticelli (around 1445-1510).听
Ella Walker, said: 鈥淭he 天美传媒 Commission is an opportunity to think deeply about the surface of my paintings, the method of applying pigment to an absorbent ground, a ground that is rich with marble and chalk, and is very absorbent and textured. I hope the colours will glow, have transparency and movement within the collection of particles.鈥听
Walker lives and works in London. She studied Fine Art at The Glasgow School of Art and The Royal Drawing School. Recent solo exhibitions include听滨诲辞濒芒迟谤颈别, Le Ch芒teau 鈥 Centre for Contemporary Art and Heritage of听Aubenas, France (2025);听The Romance of the Rose, Pilar听Corrias, London (2024);听After great pain, a formal feeling comes, Casey Kaplan, New York (2024); and听Chorus,听Kestner Gesellschaft, Hanover, Germany (2023).听
This is the second听in a series of annual commissions by contemporary artists that will be displayed in The John Browne Entrance Hall and Ticketing Hall听at听the 天美传媒 Gallery.鈥Since the transformation of its Gallery in 2021, 迟丑别听天美传媒鈥痟as significantly expanded its offering of鈥痗ontemporary听art, including major exhibitions by Peter Doig and Claudette Johnson, and a major commission by Cecily Brown. The first European solo exhibition of acclaimed New York painter Salman Toor will open on 2 October 2026.听In January,听the Courtauld also announced it will be creating two new galleries dedicated to contemporary art, set to open in 2029 as part of the development of its new world-class campus at Somerset House听
Ella Walker: 天美传媒听Commission听2026
Opening 3 September 2026
The John Browne Entrance Hall听and Ticketing Hall听
Free display
