Vanessa Jackson RA (b. 1953, Surrey, United Kingdom) is a British artist and a member of the Royal Academy of Arts since September 2015. She received her BA from Saint Martin’s School of Arts in 1975 and her MA from the Royal College of Art in 1978. A prominent figure on the British art scene since the 1970s, her geometric paintings play with space, architecture, and visual perception. Jackson’s use of semi-hard-edged shapes and colours intertwines the historical tradition of abstract painting as a canonical genre with optical and spatial illusions. With her 2021 project “Piccadilly Art Take Over” she surpassed the limits of the canvas, to explore the urban environment and what can be made beyond traditional substrates. Jackson has been a tutor and friend to many successful artists, whom she says she was fortunate to meet and work with during her long and dedicated teaching career as Head of Painting at Winchester School of Art, and Tutor at the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

Rough Cut and Faceted, Marcelle Joseph Projects, London (2014); Throwing Shapes, wall painting, Café Gallery Projects, Southwark (2014); Vertigo in Three Parts, wall painting, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London (2008).

Selected Group Exhibitions

Simply Painting, Inverness Museum and Art Gallery, Inverness (2015); Distressed Geometry, Kunstraum Baden, Switzerland (2015); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2015); Abstract Geometry, Rook & Raven Gallery, London (2014).

Selected Collections

J. Paul Getty Museum, California; Royal College of Art Collection, London; The National Museum and Arts Gallery in Botswana.

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