About me
| Short Bio | (Maltese artist, B. 1990)
Ġulja Holland is a figurative painter based between Malta and London. She graduated with a MA from the Royal College of Art, London in 2021 and obtained a BA (Hons) from Leeds Arts University in 2015. Her psychologically charged works explore themes of identity, love, human conflict and her growing concern for the natural environment. Holland’s work explores the darker aspects of the human condition on a personal scale as well as on a global scale. Self-identity, environmental destruction and existentialism are recurring themes in Holland’s work. The human form and its surroundings are often abstracted in an attempt to move the image beyond language and toward metaphor, leaving room for interpretation.
Recent group exhibitions include the London Grads Now. 21, Saatchi Gallery, Royal College of Arts Degree show, Cromwell Place, London (2021) ‘Together through Painting’, London Paint Club (2021), Another Work is Possible (online via: https://2021.rca.ac.uk/collaborations/another-world-is-possible), Snapshot, Hockney Gallery, London (2020). She is the recipient of the Tertiary Education Scholarship Scheme 2021 and has recently been shortlisted as an artist on the Sky Arts Portrait of the Year Program. She was also shortlisted for the Unit 1 Gallery solo residency in London and was recently selected for the PADA Studios artist residency scheme taking place in this summer. |
| Looking for | Connection & engagement with a wider local audience |
| Represented by | Lily Agius Gallery, Saatchi Art, Rise Art London |
| Skills | Conceptual Drawing Figurative Painting Work on Paper |
Education
| Education History | 2019 – 2021, Royal College of Art, MA Painting 2012 – 2015, Leeds Arts University, BA (Hons) Fine Arts 2008 – 2009, Loughborough University, Art & Design Foundation Diploma
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Experience
| Exhibitions | Selected Exhibitions
Solo Upcoming 2023, A New Gothic, Spazju Kreattiv, St James Cavalier, Malta Past 2021, When Your Voice Shakes, Studio 87, Valletta, Malta 2017, From A Distance, Lily Agius Gallery, Sliema, Malta 2016, Altered Egos, The Malta Maritime Museum, Birgu Waterfront, Malta
Group Upcoming 2023, WOP5, Blue Shop Gallery, London Mara, MARA, Bureau Iniala X Marie Gallery 5, Valletta, Malta, 2023 Floorr Magazine, London, 2023
Past 2021, Celebratory PAOTY exhibition, Compton Verney Art Gallery, Warwickshire, UK – Currently on show 2021, CURRENT/S 2, DESKO Gallery, Valletta, Malta 2021, Royal College of Art Degree Show, Cromwell Place, London, UK 2021, London Paint Club, https://londonpaintclub.com/2021/05/13/together-through-painting-gallery-1/ 2021, Another World is Possible, https://2021.rca.ac.uk/collaborations/another-world-is-possible 2020, Snapshot, Hockney Gallery, London, UK 2020, Snapshot, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art 2020, WIP Show, Royal College of Art 2019, 216 KM APX, La Bottega Art Bistro, Valletta, Malta 2018, Autumn Exhibition, Studio 87, Valletta, Malta 2018, Sea She Sees, The Malta Maritime Museum, Birgu Waterfront, Malta 2017, Paragon Europe’s Brussels Exhibition, Brussels Press Club Europe, Brussels 2016, The International Art Collective IV, Le Méridien, St.Julians, Malta 2016,The Pink October Art Exhibition, Auberge de Castille, Valletta, Malta 2016, Tribe16 International Art festival Chrom-art exhibition, 47/49 Tanner Street, London 2015, Christianity, Spirituality and the Other: The Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale, Malta 2015, Free Range, London, UK, 2015 44°, Leeds Arts University Degree Show, Leeds, UK 2014 Navigation, Thwaite Mills, Leeds, UK 2013, Open Closet, Lamberts Yard, Leeds, UK
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| Achievements | Ġulja Holland is the recipient of the Tertiary Education Scholarship Scheme 2021 and has recently been shortlisted as an artist on the Sky Arts Portrait of the Year Program. She was also recently shortlisted for the Unit 1 Gallery solo residency in London. She was a guest speaker at the She Malta Summer Workshop in 2019. Between 2018 and 2019 Holland was a member of the Malta Creative Collective member and was also invited as a speaker at one of their numerous networking events. |
| Residencies | PADA Studios, Summer residency, Barrerio, Portugal, 2022 |