Please join us for the Private View on Friday 6 October, 5pm to 9pm

For all enquiries, please contact shemartschool@gmail.com

Shem, b 1984, is a British-born self-taught contemporary abstract expressionist painter.

His painting style evolved out of his kinaesthetic brain, listening as his eyes processed the colours of life and blended them with his thoughts.He started creating images as a child, making comic books with his brother, Sahla.

His childhood images were born out of the need to make sense of an unconventional upbringing, including a sometimes difficult nomadic lifestyle in London. The highlight of his early childhood years was Rastafarian schooling in Tottenham, rich in sensory experience.This creation of images continued in secret until he self-staged his first solo show in disused premises in London in 2019.

Shem’s style has continued to develop as a ‘chaotic expressionist ’also described by some as a journalist painter. In June 2020, he exhibited ‘We are in the Future’, a painted billboard in Old Street, curated by Outside the Zone.

He had his first solo show, ‘When The Sun Falls Out The Sky’, at the Hoxton Gallery, Shoreditch, London, in November 2020. Without losing his sense of urgency, he has been working at a range of scales, including a whole wall on Dereham Place in Shoreditch. This was a collaboration with Mr Doodle -‘Rock Paper Wizards’. His second solo show, ‘Fine Art’, was held in South Kensington, London, in March 2022. Featuring a whole collection of work made across two studios in Dalston, Hackney.

Shem’s most recent works are new canvases, works on paper in a range of sizes, hand-painted chairs, and works on familiar and found objects. Shem’s first Asia show, ‘The Loser Wins’, opened at Space Fountain gallery, Seoul in May 2023.

Shem’s work is in numerous private collections around the world from Seoul to San Francisco.

Group shows

London

Feel The Fear Everything Comes to Pass, OTZ, Soho - March 2020

Art Unmasked - Global Radio Make Some Noise Foundation - Westfield Shepherd’s Bush - October 2022 - October 2023

Public Art - London

We Are In The Future - OTZ, Billboard Old Street - June 2020

Rock Paper Wizards - Dereham Place, Shoreditch - June 2021

Solo shows

London

A Discounted World At Full Price (But Dreams Are Free) - Self-staged Clapham - 2019

When The Sun Falls Out the Sky - Hoxton Gallery - November 2020

Fine Art - Thurloe Place South Kensington - March 2022

Asia

The Loser Wins - Space Fountain Gallery Seoul May - August 2023

Auctions

Art on A Postcard - November 2021

Art on A Postcard - November 2022

Koestler Arts - Postcards from Prison - May 2023

Art Unmasked - Global Radio Make Some Noise Foundation - Westfield Shepherd’s Bush - Upcoming Auction October 2023