Biography
Art in Bruton
Stephen Riley
Profile
Stephen Riley has exhibited in the UK, China and Germany, has work in private collections in the UK, USA and continental Europe and in the public collection of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Greater Manchester. Stephen is also a published author and retired lecturer in Fine Art and Contextual Studies for Art and Design. He lives and works in Bruton in the English county of Somerset.
Artist’s Statement
My work is concerned with the uses, characteristics and poetics of space.
Places and artefacts have meanings; at the very least they present an invitation to experience sensations. Sometimes these inducements are intentional; sometimes they just happen. They also mutate, as events, objects and images impact upon each other. Viewed in this way, the spaces we experience become semiotic sounding boards, and the whole world becomes one giant sculpture with endless smaller sculptures within it.
In practical terms, this means I am mostly drawn to what people do, how they leave their mark on the spaces they inhabit; but I am also drawn to formal aspects, by which I mean the compositions that can be created from what might seem arbitrary until it is isolated by the pictorial frame, thus the work is often a collision of the abstract and the representational. Sometimes the attraction is the beauty in what might otherwise be disregarded, and sometimes it is just the essential weirdness of what we surround ourselves with and take for granted.
Media: painting, photography, 3D assemblage.
Contact
stephenriley8@hotmail.com
T 44(0)794 175 9877
Education
2007 Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
1998-2002 PhD by Fine Art Practice - University of Leeds
1993-4 MA Art and Architecture - Kent Institute of Art & Design, Canterbury
1990-3 BA (Hons) Fine Art - University of Plymouth at Exeter
Selected Exhibitions (* One/Two-Person Shows)
2026 Witnessing and Recording, Bruton Museum* (solo)
2025 On the Road, Art Bank, Shepton Mallet* (duo with Gillian Scott Moore)
2023 View of Yeovil, Yeovil Art Space
2023 Art Bank Open, Shepton Mallet
2019 Somerset Art Weeks
2018 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2017 In the Bleak Mid-Winter, Bruton Art Factory
2017 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2016 Barnaby, Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2016 Environmental, Bruton Art Factory
2015 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2014 Sound and Vision, The Artworks, Poole
2014 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2013 Sine Dubio Festival of Art, Low Wood Hotel, Windermere
2013 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2013 Jane Fuest Gallery, Alresford, Winchester
2012 Notes from Underground, Aspace, Southampton
2012 Jane Fuest Gallery, Alresford, Winchester
2012 Affordable Art (courtesy of Stark Gallery, London and Canterbury), London
2011 Strandrin Art & Design, Winchester
2010 Moontree Gallery, Boscombe
2010 PassionArt, Bournemouth
2010 Turner and Thom, Eton
2009 Evolver Prize Exhibition, Dorset County Museum, Dorchester
2009 Specialist, Poundbury Training Centre, Weymouth College, Dorchester
2009 PassionArt, Bournemouth
2008 Making an Exhibition of Ourselves, Dolphin Quays, Poole
2008 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 'Night' online exhibition
2008 Spice Studios Gallery, Southampton
2007 Myth of Place, The Old Ladies' House Gallery, Macau, China
2007 Art and the Workplace, The Old Magistrates' Court, Southampton
2007 From the Edge, Dolphin Quays, Poole
2007 Inaugural Exhibition, Spice Studios Gallery, Southampton
2007 What Do You Think You Are Looking At?, Redgate Gallery, London
2007 The World is Ours?, Bargate Monument Gallery, Southampton
2006 Shine Through all the Spheres, Nolia's Gallery 2, London*
2006 Galerie Hedi Probst, Nonnenhorn, Germany
2006 Myth of Place, Nolia's Gallery 2, London
2006 Planet Earth, Pierian Centre, Bristol
2006 Showcase, Nolia's 3 - Basement Gallery, London
2004 Camera Lucinda, A Space, Southampton (trio with Tim Edgar and Paul Finnegan)
2004 Camera Lucinda, The Artworks, Poole (trio with Tim Edgar and Paul Finnegan)
2004 Carte Blanche, The Artworks, Poole
2003 Cornucopia, Corn Exchange Arts Centre, Newbury
2003 Size Matters 2, A Space, Southampton
2002 Bliss, Art & Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield*
2002 Concertina, Study Gallery, Poole
2001 Informel, New Greenham Arts, Greenham Common
2000 Means of Production, New Greenham Arts, Greenham Common* (duo with Jeremy Turner)
2000 Datum, New Greenham Arts, Greenham Common
1999 Compensation, Kingsgate Gallery, London* (duo with Mark Pearson)
1999 Compensation, Bankley Gallery, Manchester* (duo with Mark Pearson)
1998 Luxury Units, Cornerhouse, Manchester*
1997 Mini-Retro, Astley Cheetham Gallery, Stalybridge, Manchester*
1995 Time and Place, JW Designs, Stalybridge, Manchester*
1994 MAAA, Fiamass Building, London
1993 View 93, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
1992 In Place II, Spacex Gallery, Exeter
1991 The Boundaries are Down, Exeter Arts Centre
Lecturing
Manchester Metropolitan University
Portsmouth University
Southampton Solent University
Chester University
Bretton Hall/Leeds University
Arts University Bournemouth
Weymouth College
Tameside College
Canterbury College
Writing and Broadcast
2026 Appearance in film Northern Soul: Still Burning (Dir. Alan Byron, Screenbound Productions)
2025 South Up North: articles published
2024 The Guardian: letter published
2024 The Independent: 2 letters published
2024 Soul Up North: article published
2023 The Independent: letter published
2022 Book: 'Soul Stories' - ASIN B0BJFJMFQ4
2018 Book: ‘The Truth About Northern Soul’ – ISBN 9781899750450
2017 The Guardian: letter published.
2017- Papa-D Productions: Presenter of The Northern Soul Recall Show: www.https://papa-d.uk/Northern-Soul-Recall/index.html
2016 Frome FM: Presenter of The Northern Soul Show
2015 Manchester Evening News: photographs published
2015 Marsh Trust, London: photograph published
2013 The Guardian: letter published.
2012 The Guardian: letter published.
2011 Dorset Life Magazine: article published.
2011 Soanyway Online Arts Magazine – photographs published
2011 The Guardian: letter published.
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine review: ‘Recent Work’, Mike Marshall, Artsway Gallery, New Forest.
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine Interface review: ‘MA Fine Art Show’, Winchester School of Art
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine Interface review: ‘The Recipe Exchange’ (Helen Pritchard) and ‘Making is Connecting’ (Prof. David Gauntlett), Spacex Gallery, Exeter
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine Interface review: ‘KL99 – Recent Work’, Chris Fraser, ArtWorks, Poole
2010 book 'Barsteadworth College - How Workplace Bullies Get Away With It' (ISBN: 9781849911825) published by Chipmunka Publishing, London
2008 Item published by Private Eye magazine
2007 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘North+South', Millais, City and Hansard Galleries, Southampton.
2007 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Artsway Open', Artsway Gallery, New Forest.
2007 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Cover to Cover' site-specific group show, Bournemouth Library.
2006 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: 'Point of Departure' by Ergin Çavusoglu, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
2006 Exhibition catalogue introductory essay: ‘Totemic’, Nolia's Gallery, London
2006 Exhibition catalogue introductory essay: ‘Domesticity’, Artworks, Poole
2006 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘I Dream of Europe’ by Bridgette Ashton, Russell-Cotes Gallery, Bournemouth.
2005 Art19.com – Review: ‘ArtVaults’ multi-site exhibition, Southampton.
2004 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Trail’ by Laura Daly, Artsway Gallery, New Forest.
2003 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Bad Quality’, Millais Gallery, Southampton.
2002 University of Leeds - PhD Thesis available in the Brotherton Library.
2002 University of Hertfordshire ‘Research into Practice’ conference handbook: Essay on exhibition ‘Bliss’ (see above)
1998 BBC Radio 4 - Article broadcast on ‘dumbing-down’.
1997 BBC Radio Manchester - Interview broadcast on ‘Mini Retro’ exhibition.
1993 BBC Radio 4 - Article broadcast on ageism in the arts.
1989 BBC Radio Manchester - Interview broadcast on architectural conservation.
Other Professional Experience, including selected Press and Guest Lecturing.
2013 Mancunian Matters: Artist of the Week
2013 Sine Dubio Festival of Art, Windermere - Guest Speaker
2011 Southampton Solent University - Guest Lecturer
2009 Weymouth College - Guest Lecturer
2009 CEDA, Exeter - Commission
2006 'AN' Magazine Reviews Unedited – Review by Melody Austin of exhibition ‘Shine Through All the Spheres’.
2006 University of Chester – PhD proposal review.
2004 Arts Institute at Bournemouth Research Forum - Speaker.
2003 – 5 Arts Institute at Bournemouth - Member of MA development team.
2003 – 5 Arts Institute at Bournemouth - Member of Gallery Committee and development team.
2003 Wimbledon School of Art – PhD Examination Observer
2002 University of Hertfordshire - Exhibition ‘Bliss’ - part of biennial ‘Research into Practice’ conference.
2001 University of Leeds - Guest Lecturer.
2001 Arts Institute at Bournemouth Research Forum - Speaker.
2001 New Greenham Arts - Curator by invitation of exhibition ‘Informel’.
2000 Work purchased by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Gtr. Manchester.
1999 Manchester Evening News - Article on exhibition ‘Compensation’.
1998 Recorded interview with Richard Wentworth (part of PhD research)
1993 University of Plymouth - Arts Research Commendation.
1992 British Gas, Bristol and Avonmouth - Placement
1992 Bristol Development Corporation – Commission.
Profile
Stephen Riley has exhibited in the UK, China and Germany, has work in private collections in the UK, USA and continental Europe and in the public collection of Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Greater Manchester. Stephen is also a published author and retired lecturer in Fine Art and Contextual Studies for Art and Design. He lives and works in Bruton in the English county of Somerset.
Artist’s Statement
My work is concerned with the uses, characteristics and poetics of space.
Places and artefacts have meanings; at the very least they present an invitation to experience sensations. Sometimes these inducements are intentional; sometimes they just happen. They also mutate, as events, objects and images impact upon each other. Viewed in this way, the spaces we experience become semiotic sounding boards, and the whole world becomes one giant sculpture with endless smaller sculptures within it.
In practical terms, this means I am mostly drawn to what people do, how they leave their mark on the spaces they inhabit; but I am also drawn to formal aspects, by which I mean the compositions that can be created from what might seem arbitrary until it is isolated by the pictorial frame, thus the work is often a collision of the abstract and the representational. Sometimes the attraction is the beauty in what might otherwise be disregarded, and sometimes it is just the essential weirdness of what we surround ourselves with and take for granted.
Media: painting, photography, 3D assemblage.
Contact
stephenriley8@hotmail.com
T 44(0)794 175 9877
Education
2007 Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
1998-2002 PhD by Fine Art Practice - University of Leeds
1993-4 MA Art and Architecture - Kent Institute of Art & Design, Canterbury
1990-3 BA (Hons) Fine Art - University of Plymouth at Exeter
Selected Exhibitions (* One/Two-Person Shows)
2026 Witnessing and Recording, Bruton Museum* (solo)
2025 On the Road, Art Bank, Shepton Mallet* (duo with Gillian Scott Moore)
2023 View of Yeovil, Yeovil Art Space
2023 Art Bank Open, Shepton Mallet
2019 Somerset Art Weeks
2018 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2017 In the Bleak Mid-Winter, Bruton Art Factory
2017 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2016 Barnaby, Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2016 Environmental, Bruton Art Factory
2015 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2014 Sound and Vision, The Artworks, Poole
2014 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2013 Sine Dubio Festival of Art, Low Wood Hotel, Windermere
2013 Jack Sevens Gallery, Macclesfield
2013 Jane Fuest Gallery, Alresford, Winchester
2012 Notes from Underground, Aspace, Southampton
2012 Jane Fuest Gallery, Alresford, Winchester
2012 Affordable Art (courtesy of Stark Gallery, London and Canterbury), London
2011 Strandrin Art & Design, Winchester
2010 Moontree Gallery, Boscombe
2010 PassionArt, Bournemouth
2010 Turner and Thom, Eton
2009 Evolver Prize Exhibition, Dorset County Museum, Dorchester
2009 Specialist, Poundbury Training Centre, Weymouth College, Dorchester
2009 PassionArt, Bournemouth
2008 Making an Exhibition of Ourselves, Dolphin Quays, Poole
2008 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, 'Night' online exhibition
2008 Spice Studios Gallery, Southampton
2007 Myth of Place, The Old Ladies' House Gallery, Macau, China
2007 Art and the Workplace, The Old Magistrates' Court, Southampton
2007 From the Edge, Dolphin Quays, Poole
2007 Inaugural Exhibition, Spice Studios Gallery, Southampton
2007 What Do You Think You Are Looking At?, Redgate Gallery, London
2007 The World is Ours?, Bargate Monument Gallery, Southampton
2006 Shine Through all the Spheres, Nolia's Gallery 2, London*
2006 Galerie Hedi Probst, Nonnenhorn, Germany
2006 Myth of Place, Nolia's Gallery 2, London
2006 Planet Earth, Pierian Centre, Bristol
2006 Showcase, Nolia's 3 - Basement Gallery, London
2004 Camera Lucinda, A Space, Southampton (trio with Tim Edgar and Paul Finnegan)
2004 Camera Lucinda, The Artworks, Poole (trio with Tim Edgar and Paul Finnegan)
2004 Carte Blanche, The Artworks, Poole
2003 Cornucopia, Corn Exchange Arts Centre, Newbury
2003 Size Matters 2, A Space, Southampton
2002 Bliss, Art & Design Gallery, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield*
2002 Concertina, Study Gallery, Poole
2001 Informel, New Greenham Arts, Greenham Common
2000 Means of Production, New Greenham Arts, Greenham Common* (duo with Jeremy Turner)
2000 Datum, New Greenham Arts, Greenham Common
1999 Compensation, Kingsgate Gallery, London* (duo with Mark Pearson)
1999 Compensation, Bankley Gallery, Manchester* (duo with Mark Pearson)
1998 Luxury Units, Cornerhouse, Manchester*
1997 Mini-Retro, Astley Cheetham Gallery, Stalybridge, Manchester*
1995 Time and Place, JW Designs, Stalybridge, Manchester*
1994 MAAA, Fiamass Building, London
1993 View 93, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
1992 In Place II, Spacex Gallery, Exeter
1991 The Boundaries are Down, Exeter Arts Centre
Lecturing
Manchester Metropolitan University
Portsmouth University
Southampton Solent University
Chester University
Bretton Hall/Leeds University
Arts University Bournemouth
Weymouth College
Tameside College
Canterbury College
Writing and Broadcast
2026 Appearance in film Northern Soul: Still Burning (Dir. Alan Byron, Screenbound Productions)
2025 South Up North: articles published
2024 The Guardian: letter published
2024 The Independent: 2 letters published
2024 Soul Up North: article published
2023 The Independent: letter published
2022 Book: 'Soul Stories' - ASIN B0BJFJMFQ4
2018 Book: ‘The Truth About Northern Soul’ – ISBN 9781899750450
2017 The Guardian: letter published.
2017- Papa-D Productions: Presenter of The Northern Soul Recall Show: www.https://papa-d.uk/Northern-Soul-Recall/index.html
2016 Frome FM: Presenter of The Northern Soul Show
2015 Manchester Evening News: photographs published
2015 Marsh Trust, London: photograph published
2013 The Guardian: letter published.
2012 The Guardian: letter published.
2011 Dorset Life Magazine: article published.
2011 Soanyway Online Arts Magazine – photographs published
2011 The Guardian: letter published.
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine review: ‘Recent Work’, Mike Marshall, Artsway Gallery, New Forest.
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine Interface review: ‘MA Fine Art Show’, Winchester School of Art
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine Interface review: ‘The Recipe Exchange’ (Helen Pritchard) and ‘Making is Connecting’ (Prof. David Gauntlett), Spacex Gallery, Exeter
2011 ‘AN’ Magazine Interface review: ‘KL99 – Recent Work’, Chris Fraser, ArtWorks, Poole
2010 book 'Barsteadworth College - How Workplace Bullies Get Away With It' (ISBN: 9781849911825) published by Chipmunka Publishing, London
2008 Item published by Private Eye magazine
2007 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘North+South', Millais, City and Hansard Galleries, Southampton.
2007 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Artsway Open', Artsway Gallery, New Forest.
2007 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Cover to Cover' site-specific group show, Bournemouth Library.
2006 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: 'Point of Departure' by Ergin Çavusoglu, John Hansard Gallery, Southampton
2006 Exhibition catalogue introductory essay: ‘Totemic’, Nolia's Gallery, London
2006 Exhibition catalogue introductory essay: ‘Domesticity’, Artworks, Poole
2006 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘I Dream of Europe’ by Bridgette Ashton, Russell-Cotes Gallery, Bournemouth.
2005 Art19.com – Review: ‘ArtVaults’ multi-site exhibition, Southampton.
2004 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Trail’ by Laura Daly, Artsway Gallery, New Forest.
2003 ‘AN’ Magazine – Review: ‘Bad Quality’, Millais Gallery, Southampton.
2002 University of Leeds - PhD Thesis available in the Brotherton Library.
2002 University of Hertfordshire ‘Research into Practice’ conference handbook: Essay on exhibition ‘Bliss’ (see above)
1998 BBC Radio 4 - Article broadcast on ‘dumbing-down’.
1997 BBC Radio Manchester - Interview broadcast on ‘Mini Retro’ exhibition.
1993 BBC Radio 4 - Article broadcast on ageism in the arts.
1989 BBC Radio Manchester - Interview broadcast on architectural conservation.
Other Professional Experience, including selected Press and Guest Lecturing.
2013 Mancunian Matters: Artist of the Week
2013 Sine Dubio Festival of Art, Windermere - Guest Speaker
2011 Southampton Solent University - Guest Lecturer
2009 Weymouth College - Guest Lecturer
2009 CEDA, Exeter - Commission
2006 'AN' Magazine Reviews Unedited – Review by Melody Austin of exhibition ‘Shine Through All the Spheres’.
2006 University of Chester – PhD proposal review.
2004 Arts Institute at Bournemouth Research Forum - Speaker.
2003 – 5 Arts Institute at Bournemouth - Member of MA development team.
2003 – 5 Arts Institute at Bournemouth - Member of Gallery Committee and development team.
2003 Wimbledon School of Art – PhD Examination Observer
2002 University of Hertfordshire - Exhibition ‘Bliss’ - part of biennial ‘Research into Practice’ conference.
2001 University of Leeds - Guest Lecturer.
2001 Arts Institute at Bournemouth Research Forum - Speaker.
2001 New Greenham Arts - Curator by invitation of exhibition ‘Informel’.
2000 Work purchased by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, Gtr. Manchester.
1999 Manchester Evening News - Article on exhibition ‘Compensation’.
1998 Recorded interview with Richard Wentworth (part of PhD research)
1993 University of Plymouth - Arts Research Commendation.
1992 British Gas, Bristol and Avonmouth - Placement
1992 Bristol Development Corporation – Commission.