Helen Beard’s (b. Birmingham, UK, 1971) work vibrates with movement and colour in a celebration of the erotic experience. Using a rich palette and different perspectives to accentuate intimate acts, her paintings are typified by their utilisation of sinuous brush strokes in a motion akin to stroking skin. This distinctive texture and technique brings movement and energy to her work, emphasising the joy of sex via the female gaze. A recent series, created after the breakdown of a long-term relationship, explores love and loss through the use of darker colours and the insertion of space between shapes to suggest feelings of separation and estrangement. This nuanced and abstract work has broadened Helen’s practice, describing the scope of human interaction beyond the purely physical.

1992
BA, Bournemouth and Poole College of Art and Design

2023
The Tulips Are Too Excitable, It Is Winter Here’, Reflex Gallery, Amszterdam, NL

2021
Lyrical Lines (prints), Paul Stolper Gallery, London, UK

2020
The Desire Path, Reflex Gallery, Amszterdam, NL

2019
It’s Her Factory’, Unit, London, UK

2010
You Look Good Gallery, We Are Cuts, London, UK

2023
Colourful, Erika Deák Gallery, Budapest, HU

2022
Sensitive Content, Unit, London, UK

2020
Drawn Together (online), Unit London, UK

2019
Reason Gives No Answers, Newport Street Gallery, London, UK

2018
21st Century Women, Unit, London, UK

2018
True Colours, Newport Street Gallery, London, UK

2017
The Art Car Boot Fair, Newport Gallery Stand, London, UK Selected Works from the Murderme Collection, Newport Street Gallery, London, UK

2010
The Term Reality, Paul Stolper Gallery, London, UK

2001
Go girl, Show girl, Gallery Fresh, London, UK

2000
Cambridge Darkroom Big Warm Open, Cambridge, UK