Rebecca Chesney

My work is concerned with how we perceive land: how we romanticise, translate and define it. I look at how politics, ownership, management and commercial value all influence our surroundings and have made extensive investigations into the impact of human activities on nature and the environment.
Weather, water quality, air pollution, land ownership and management, sea level rise, habitat loss and decline of species are all subjects my work continues to examine, taking the form of installations, interventions, habitat creation, drawings, maps and walks.
Exploring the blurred boundaries between science and folklore, my work is also concerned with how our understanding of nature is fed by a confused mix of truth and fiction.

Commissions include British Textile Biennial, HOME Manchester, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Compton Verney, Newlyn Art Gallery, the Brontë Parsonage Museum, and Grizedale Arts. Awards include a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists, a Gasworks International Fellowship to CONA in Mumbai, India and a Lucas Artist Fellowship to Montalvo Arts Centre in California, USA. I have been invited on a number of residencies including TONSPUR in Vienna, Austria, the Nirox Foundation in South Africa, the Museo Casa Rural di Carcente in Italy, and a Peak residency in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.

CV
2024
Harewood Biennial 2024: Create/Elevate Harewood House, North Yorkshire curated by Ligaya Salazar and Darren Pih.
Art and Horticulture artist in residence at Hospitalfield, Arbroath Scotland.
Diorama for an Exhibition CONA Foundation, Serendipity Arts Festival Goa, India.
Minute to Midnight Gallery Oldham, UK. Group show curated by Rebecca Hill.
Our Earth Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire UK. New commission for group show curated by Beth Hughes.
Lost Cities, Found Objects Leeds City Art Gallery UK. Touring Arts Council show curated by Lubaina Himid.

2023
Conditions at Present British Textile Biennial 2023, Lancashire UK. Commission
A Fine Toothed Comb HOME, Manchester, UK. Commission, and group show curated by Lubaina Himid and Clarissa Corfe.
Landscapes of Progress? Hestercombe Gallery, Taunton Somerset. Commission, and group show curated by Tim Martin.
Storm Warning Focal Point Gallery, Southend-on-Sea, UK. Group show
Storm Warning Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall, UK. Group show
Climate, Emergency, Hope Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, UK. Group show
Lost Cities, Found Objects Royal West Academy, Bristol, UK. Touring Arts Council show curated by Lubaina Himid.
Lost Cities, Found Objects Southampton City Art Gallery, UK. Touring Arts Council show curated by Lubaina Himid.
Pine an' Fret We Are Local, Stalybridge, UK. Posters and billboards commission, and solo exhibition at Astley Cheetham Gallery, Stalybridge, UK.
The Storm (Chapter 2) sound work broadcast on Lithuanian National Radio.
The Brontës and the Wild Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, UK. Work included in museum exhibition, and commission to make 4 new visitor books.

2022
Hidden from Light Astley Hall, Chorley, UK. Solo exhibition
Connected-Connectedness Gallery ONKAF, New Delhi, India. Group show curated by Anke Mellin.
Future Landscapes Leicester University, UK. Exhibition with Arts Council Collection.
Wee-weep TONSPUR Vienna, Austria. Residency and commission
This Place is Held Dear Super Slow Way, Lancashire UK. Commission to make permanently sited habitat creation.

2021
Visiting Artist at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield UK.
Invisible Narratives² Yamamoto Keiko Rochaix Gallery, London, UK. Group show curated by Lubaina Himid.
Nigel Greenwood Art Prize: shortlisted artist.
The Storm Tonspur, Micro Museum for Sound, MQ Vienna, Austria. Commission: 8 channel sound installation and series of posters

2020
Recipient of a Paul Hamlyn Foundation Award for Artists 2020.
El Balcon Rubin Center for the Visual Arts, El Paso Texas, USA. Group show curated by Ivan Buenader and Proyecto Changarrito.
Artist in residence for Super Slow Way, Lancashire UK (2020 - 2025).
Someday you'll be sorry The Pavilion, Preston UK. 5 channel sound installation.

2019
Ruskin: Museum of the Near Future The Ruskin Library, Museum & Research Centre. Lancaster UK. Group show
Animals of Manchester Manchester International Festival with Theatre of Research & Live Arts Development Agency at Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester UK. Group show
Invisible Narratives Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall, UK. Group show curated by Lubaina Himid.
Land Acts Oriel Myrddin Gallery, Carmarthen, Wales. Group show curated by Rebecca Spooner
Beautiful and Brutal Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston, UK. Group show curated by Charles Quick
Residency at Astley Hall Chorley Lancashire UK.

2018
Pont-y-ddôl Peak Cymru and Canal and River Trust (2018 - 2021) Pontymoile, Wales. Commission to make permanently sited habitat creation.
Distance Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen, Germany. Solo exhibition
Alla Breve Museo Casa Rurale di Carcente, Italy. Residency and solo exhibition
Rustic Oracles Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library, Preston, UK. Solo exhibition
Climates of Change Halberstadt Biennale, Germany. Group show curated by Pippa Koszerek.
Internationaler Waldkunstpfad Darmstadt, Germany. Residency and commission.
Residency Brownfield Research Centre, AirSpace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent, UK.
Forewarning Full of Noises (Barrow), Soundcamp (London) and Cumbria Wildlife Trust, UK. Residency and commission

2017
66 Million Peter Scott Gallery Lancaster, UK. Solo exhibition
Creating the Countryside Compton Verney Art Gallery, UK. Group show curated by Dr Rosemary Shirley and Verity Elson
Regions of Light Hestercombe Gallery, Somerset, Uk. Group show curated by Tim Martin.
Ecovention Europe: Art to Transform Ecologies 1957-2017 Museum De Domijnen, Netherlands. Group show curated by Sue Spaid.
Landed (Cadastral Maps) Storey Gallery 2 research project with Layla Curtis and John Angus. Online

2016
A Place in Time Nirox Sculpture Park, South Africa. Group show curated by Dr Helen Pheby
Change and Interchange: Landscape | Environment Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster UK. Group show curated by Richard Smith.
Residency Lucas Artist Fellowship Program at Montalvo California USA (2016, 2017 & 2018)
Peak Residency Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. Funded by Arts Council Wales and BBNP.
Snaphot, Colours of the Brecon Beacons Peak and Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales. Commission

2015
City Birds Atelier Sangatsu, Osaka, Japan. Solo exhibition
Indefinable Cities AirSpace Gallery Stoke-on-Trent UK. Group show
A Green and Pleasant Land? Rural life in Art Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, UK. Group show curated by Lindsey McCormick
Fair Warning RSPB, Fairhaven Lake, Lancashire, UK. Commission - sound installation
Particulate Matters In Certain Places, Preston UK (2015 - 2017). Commission

2014
Listening Landscapes / Landschaften Horen Springhornhof, Neuenkirchen, Germany. Group show curated by Bettina von Dziembowski
Listen Up! New Delhi, India. City wide group show curated by Diana Betancourt and Tim Goossens
Accidental Death Beam, Wakefield, UK. Research residency and commission
Crocus Field Leftcoast and Avant Gardening. Marton Windmill Blackpool, UK. Commission to make permanently sited habitat creation.

2013
Urban Wild Cona, Mumbai, India. Solo exhibition
Residency Gasworks International Fellowship, Cona, Mumbai, India.
Still in Silence The Bluecoat, Liverpool, UK. Group show curated by Sara-Jayne Parsons
Irrational Constant Nirox Sculpture Foundation, South Africa. Residency and commission to make permanently sited work.

2012
I'm blue, you're yellow Everton Park, Liverpool, UK. Landlife commission to make permanently sited habitat creation
Hope's Whisper The Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, UK. Solo exhibition

2011
Diligent Observation Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK. Solo exhibition
Emily Ivy Chrysalis Arts, Hackfall Woods, N Yorkshire, UK. Commission in collaboration with David Swift.
Residency Brontë Parsonage Museum, Haworth, UK.

2010
Residency Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK.
Residency Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA), UK.

Press / Reviews / Writing about my work:
2023: Financial Times review of A Fine Toothed Comb by Rachel Spence
2023: Recessed Space review of A Fine Toothed Comb by Paul Dobraszczyk
2023: Art Monthly review of A Fine Toothed Comb by Lauren Velvick
2023: Selvedge Magazine feature about the British Textile Biennial
2022: Corridor8 review of Hidden from Light by Grace Edwards
2021 Frieze Andrew Durbin Critic's Guides June 2021
2020: Antennae Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, Practicing Post-Nature by Beth Savage
2019: Colour in the Brecon Beacons Richard Mabey for Searching the Shadows published by In Certain Places
2016: CCQ Magazine feature Landscape, Portrait by Emma Gelliott
2016: Peak Art UK feature The Colour of Fresh Mountain Dew by Melissa Hinkin
2015: Double Negative feature On Being Out of Place by Rosemary Shirley
2015: Corridor8 review of Green and Pleasant Land by Jack Welsh
2015: Thisistomorrow review of Indefinable Cities by Dominika Mackiewicz
2013: Art and Ecology Michaela Crimmin. Published on The White Building website.

Publications:
Invisible Narratives Christine Eyene, Dr Ella Mills, James Green, Lubaina Himid, Magda Stawarska-Beavan, Rebecca Chesney. Published by Newlyn Art Gallery 2021.
ISBN 978-0-9546745-3-3
Searching the Shadows Rebecca Chesney, Richard Mabey, Rosemary Shirley, Elaine Speight, Owen Mountford, Colm Bown, Gail Bell, Clarissa Corfe. Published by In Certain Places 2019. ISBN: 978-0-9930498-4-2
Practising Place, Creative and Critical Reflections on Place Elaine Speight, Lubaina Himid. Published by Art Editions North 2019. ISBN 978-1-906832-35-3
Uniformannual Published by Uniformbooks 2018. ISBN: 978-1-910010-17-4
Climates of Change (MKH Biennial catalogue) Ilka Leukefeld, Pippa Koszerek 2018
Ecovention Europe Art the Transform Ecologies, 1957-2017. Sue Spaid. Published by Museum De Domijnen Hedendaagse Kunst, 2018. ISBN: 978-90-75883-56-5
Waldkunstpfad Kunst Okologie (Waldkunstpfed exhibition catalogue) Sue Spaid, Ute Ritschel 2018. ISBN: 978-3-9819276-0-3
Creating the Countryside Verity Elson, Rosemary Shirley. Published by Paul Holberton Publishing 2017. ISBN: 978-1-911300-10-6
Why Write Critical? Su Flowers. Published by the Double Negative 2016. ISBN 978-1-5262-0237-6
Subplots to a City Elaine Speight, Charles Quick, Gerrie van Noord. Published by In Certain Places 2014. ISBN: 978-0-9930498-0-4
I’m blue, you’re yellow Richard Scott (Landlife), Elaine Speight, Dr Colm Bowe. Published by Gannet Verlag 2013
Diligent Observation - A year of bees on the Bretton Estate (Yorkshire Sculpture Park exhibition catalogue). Dr Helen Pheby, Michaela Crimmin, Adrianne Neil, Rebecca Chesney. 2011. ISBN: 978-1-871480-88-7

Selected Talks and Presentations:
2024: Women in Print panel discussion Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, London UK.
2023: A Fine Toothed Comb in discussion event with Lucia Pietroiusti, Zakiya McKenzie and Rebecca Chesney HOME, Manchester, UK.
2023: The Weather and the Brontës in conversation event at the Brontë Festival of Women's Writing 2023.
2023: Patterns of Change in the Anthropocene artist talk alongside Professor Mark Williams, Institute of Environmental Futures, University of Leicester, UK.
2022: Capturing Change artist talk, Digital Arts Department, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria.
2022: Reimagining Landscape conference, Lancaster University, Uk. Invited keynote speaker.
2020: Arts and Place Now Online in conversation with Helen Pheby, Head Curator at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
2019: Landscape Justice: Boarders & Boundaries Landscape Research Group, Lancaster, UK. Invited speaker.
2019: Wildflowering for Natural & Social Gain Seminar, National Wildflower Centre and Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, Liverpool, UK. Invited speaker.
2018: Rethinking Landscape Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK. Invited speaker.
2018: Greening Arts Practice professional development for artists organised by Chrysalis Arts, Gargrave, UK. Session leader.
2017: Regions of Light Seminar, Hestercombe Gallery, Taunton, UK. Invited speaker.
2016: On the Edge: Eisteddfod Fringe Programme Abergavenny Wales. In conversation with BBNP Geologist Alan Bowring.

Other:
2019: Art and Class: Is everyone welcome? I organised and chaired an evening of talks and discussion about inequality in the creative industries for Into a Better Shape, Preston.
Speakers: Marlene Smith (artist and curator), David Obrien (author of Panic! report on inequality in the creative industries), William Titley (artist and co-founder of In-Situ), Rebecca Davies (artist and creator of The Oasis Social Club), Laura Robertson and Mike Pinnington (co-founders of The Double Negative)
2018: Imbalance Redressed I organised and chaired an evening of talks and discussion about the under representation of women in public collections for Into a Better Shape, Preston. Speakers: Christine Eyene (curator, critic and art historian), Lubaina Himid (artist and curator), Mark Doyle (Collections Manager of Touchstones in Rochdale), Hilary Robinson (Professor of Feminism, Art and Theory at Loughborough University).
2012 / 2013: Secret Preston Art I curated and organised an artist print project. Artists: Mark Dion, Lubaina Himid, Toby Paterson, Urs Luethi, Adrianne Neil, David Nash, Alec Finlay with Hanna Tuulikki, Katie Holten, Hemali Bhuta, Michael Lewy and Confidential.
2008 - 2010: Pest Publications Working in collaboration with artists Elaine Speight and Robina Llewellyn investigating artist-led spaces. Pest Publications was funded by Castlefield Gallery, Manchester.
2007: Co-founder of Prestival alongside Elaine Speight and Robina Llewellyn. Held over a weekend in July 36 artists were invited to show work and perform in 13 different venues across Preston city centre.