Panel Talk: The Matter of Painting

Join us for this panel discussion that brings together artists that engage with the materiality of paint and painting in different ways: as paint fabricators, within expanded material practices and as educators.

The panellists Sarah Kate Wilson, Andrew Pierre Hart and Rebecca Wallace will reflect on their own engagement with paint and painting in the wider context of the Painting Prize. They will discuss the material qualities of paint and how this is explored through the work on display. And they will consider how the teaching of painting can support material enquiry and expanded material thinking.

^{Header image: Lucy Grant, Blue Velvet Three, 2026 (detail).} 

Andrew Pierre Hart is an interdisciplinary artist and educator. He is an associate lecturer on the MA painting pathway at the Royal College of Art. His practice is based in painting. He continually explores the symbiotic relationship between painting and sound, and a multitude of themes that relate to the dialogue between the two mediums. He works across painting, sound, performance, installation, video, sculpture and more. His work is currently on display at Ingleby Gallery, Iniva and Cheslea Space and recently he was on residency at Civitella Foundation in Umbria, Italy.

Rebecca Wallace studied BA Hons Fine Art at North Oxfordshire College of Art and the Prince’s Drawing School, now known as the Royal Drawing School. Her interests are the narrative and mystery that can be conveyed through techniques of construction and selective uses of particular pigments. She works from the figure with large scale drawings and studies directly from the landscape. Rebecca founded Wallace Seymour Fine Art Products with painter Pip Seymour jn 2011. Through their work in the field of painting and drawing materials, the company have delivered many technical workshops for artists, both within art schools and independent organisations. Their overriding mission is to introduce the notion of good practice with materials and further a broader understanding of painting materials and technique within contemporary practice.

Sarah Kate Wilson has a multiform practice that includes performance, textiles and ceramics but centres on painting. Her work seeks to make visible the seemingly invisible, drawing inspiration from stories of the ‘other side’ and magical happenings. Exhibitions include Biennale Internazionale Donna 2026 (Italy), BALTIC 39 (Newcastle), Newlyn Gallery (Cornwall) and The Armory Centre, (California). Her Painting Performances have taken place at Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Royal Academy of Arts and The Museum of London. She has been Artist in Residence at The Edward James Foundation and at Bauhaus. She has been the recipient of an a-n Bursary and Arts Council England DYCP funding. Based in London, she received an MFA from the Slade School of Art and an AHRC-funded PhD from University of Leeds.

The Freelands Painting Prize celebrates outstanding painting by final-year undergraduate artists attending art schools and universities across the UK. 

The winner is announced in Autumn, at the opening of an exhibition of works by all of the shortlisted artists’ work at the Foundation’s home in London. They receive a prize from Freelands Painting Prize partners Wallace Seymour, makers of high-quality painting and drawing materials, of a consultation and £1,000 worth of materials. 

Date: Wednesday 28 October, 2026.

Time: 6.30 - 8.30pm. Doors from 6.15pm.

This event is free and open to all. Please book a place. 

Address:
Freelands Foundation   
12 Errol Street   
London, EC1Y 8LX  

For exact location, use what3words: timing.settle.handle  

Exhibition opening times:
7–31 October 2026, Wednesday–Saturday, 12–6pm

Visit our website for more information.

Accessibility:
Find our full visitor information details at freelandsfoundation.co.uk/visit  

Should you have any access requirements ahead of your visit, please contact us via [email protected] or (+44) 020 3598 7081.