Instagram story viewer> @oliviaster> Tagged
oliviaster(@oliviaster)'s profile avatar HD Profile

oliviaster

@oliviaster

11K
followers
3736
following
painting around London / England
she/her🌜🌛
Feb: @eastgallery_norwichuni
May: @dirimart
POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED
Introducing: @oliviaster Olivia Sterling was born in Peterborough in 1996. She studied at the University of Derby, receiving her BA in Fine Art in 2018. She went on to graduate with an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art in 2020. In 2021 she exhibited her first institutional show at CCA Goldsmiths ‘Really Rough Scrubbing Brush’ and presented ‘White Bread’ at Cob Gallery, London. She has created several other solo exhibitions since, most recently in East Gallery, Norwich with ‘Pity the Meat!’ and currently ‘Cold Spell’ at Charleston House. Her work has also been featured in over fifty group exhibitions throughout the UK and internationally. She lives and works in London. Barmaids, 2024 120 x 80cm, acrylic on canvas Olivia Sterling
2
Download
Olivia Sterling 𝘾𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙡𝙡 @oliviaster ✨ 🗓️On view through 7 March 2027 📍Charleston in Firle, East Sussex, United Kingdom Olivia Sterling’s paintings turn a vivid, often playful eye on race, class, gender and domestic life – concerns that sit in pointed dialogue with Bloomsbury histories and mythologies of the home. Creating an entirely new body of work in response to this season, contemporary artist Olivia Sterling takes Quentin Bell’s lifelong fascination with magic, levitation and the occult as her starting point. Working across painting, drawing and print, Sterling connects Bell’s world to our own – exploring how the language of spellcasting and mysticism operates in contemporary life and politics. Her work is vivid and often darkly funny – finding the absurd in artificial intelligence, misinformation, political spectacle and the uncomfortable comedy of living through it. @charlestontrust _ Images: Olivia Sterling, “Cold Spell”, 2026, installation views, Charleston in Firle © The Charleston Trust, photos: Lee Robbins. #oliviasterling #charlestontrust #sussexart #exhibitionviews
6
Download
Meet Olivia Sterling! Turning a vivid, often playful eye on race, class, gender and domestic life, Sterling fills her closely cropped, brightly coloured canvases with food, gesture and the human figure. She uses humour to draw out subjects that are anything but. Born in Peterborough and based in London, Sterling studied painting at the Royal College of Art. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, from the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool to Palazzo Tiepolo Passi in Venice. ‘Cold Spell’ is a new commission, made in response to Charleston’s history and our Quentin Bell retrospective. Inspired by Bell’s lifelong fascination with magic, levitation and the occult, Sterling explores how the language of spellcasting and mysticism works in life and politics today, finding the absurd in artificial intelligence, misinformation and political spectacle. ✨ Free to visit at Charleston in Firle until 7 March. 🔗 Find out more via the link in our bio. #oliviasterling #contemporarypainting #figurativepainting #sussexart #bloomsburygroup
6
Download
Really looking forward to having some of my favourite writers and artists each do a reading at @public.gallery this Sunday afternoon to accompany ‘All the corners that are left’. Their work has shaped how I see and I can’t wait to hear them read in the space ✨ —- Join us from 3 - 5 pm on October 11 for an afternoon of guest readings to accompany Cece Philips’ exhibition All the corners that are left. Speakers include Okiki Akinfe, Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Shope Delano, Hannah Hutchings-Georgiou, Lucy Mcllgorm, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Rolake Osabia, Cece Philips, Cecile Pin, and Olivia Sterling @okikiakinfe @victoriaadukweibulley @shopedelano @hannahhg25 @lucy_mcilgorm @caleb_anelson @rolakeosabia @cecilekvpin @oliviaster Lacquered Landscape, 2026 Oil on linen 80x100 cm
6
Download
Happy Black History Month ✊✨ If we’re serious about truly being inclusive, it starts with awareness — understanding our privilege, recognising how bias impacts people and taking the time to educate ourselves. But education without action only takes us so far. Saving posts to come back to later is a start, but it can’t be the end. Make a conscious effort to diversify what you consume: the people you follow, the podcasts you listen to, the media you read, the books you buy and the newsletters you subscribe to. Here are five Black women you can follow this Black History Month — and this is just the tip of the iceberg. From writers and activists to artists and creatives, these women are creating work that challenges, inspires and deserves to be seen. Don’t stop here. Share your recommendations in the comments, and make the effort to follow, engage and support Black voices — not just this month, but all year round. Let’s go Guilty Feminists ✊
17
Download
Funny People opens 21 November @the_lowry with a brilliant bunch of comedic artists and artistic comedians 🎉 Magda Archer @dorsettpaints @jennyeclair1960 @olaffalafel @ryanjgander @rosiegibbens @martygleeson_ @ifindoubtaskella @winnie_hall @emma.hart_ @mrharryhill @andyholdenphotos Jessica Hynes Sarah Lucas @mcgrath.annie @jimmoirart @_rebecca.moss @rorywmullen Simon Munnery @harold_offeh @janetteparris @taxicabindustries @davidshrigley @oliviaster @isysuttie @chestertenneson Johnny Vegas @really_katywix @wilfridwoodsculptor @woodandharrison PLUS we have an audio guide to the Lowry collection from funny guy @edyhurst , a Taskmaster task devised by the man himself @littlealexhorne & a stand up comedy night by Manchester collective Fight Club 💥 ✨Co-curated with my comedy counterpart @mcgrath.annie 🧠 Concept devised by ideas guys @emaleebeddoes @chestertenneson 🙏Best gallery team @gracebuckley_ & @kelan.andrews 😎Design by tha formidable @varfolomley 🚌 Funny People will tour to @theburtonatbideford in the summer!
20
Download
On Friday it was wonderful to return to Charleston in Firle, former meeting place of the Bloomsbury Group and home of Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant, where we have previously provided heritage consultancy for the historic farmhouse. This visit, though, was for pleasure and the launch of their new exhibitions showcasing the works of Vanessa Bell’s son Quentin and contemporary artist Olivia Sterling. We were lucky enough to fit in a tour of the magnificently decorated farmhouse before the speeches by Quentin Bell’s daughter Virginia Nicholson, curator Matthew Holliday and Head of Exhibitions Emily Hill. A fantastic evening and all well worth a visit. www.charleston.org.uk for details of the house and exhibitions. #charleston #heritageconsultancy
3
Download
Our new exhibitions are open today at Charleston in Firle! This autumn, you can visit everything at Firle with just one ticket. In our galleries: 🌟Explore the life and art of Quentin Bell, son of Vanessa Bell, who arrived at Charleston aged six and spent much of his life here. This exhibition traces his creative practice across a lifetime. His work, exuberant, strange and prolific, reminds us of the joy in making art for making’s sake. 🌟Contemporary painter @oliviaster takes Bell’s obsession with magic and the occult as her starting point and casts her own spell in a commission of all-new works. Her paintings and large-scale mural ask sharp questions about power, race and wealth inequality in the age of artificial intelligence. And in the house and gardens: 🏡 Discover what it was like to grow up at Charleston in a new display of rarely seen works from our collection, juvenilia and family photo albums, providing further context for the ‘Quentin Bell’ exhibition. 🍎Wander the gardens in their autumn abundance, pick an apple in the walled gardens or hunt for sculptures by Quentin Bell hidden throughout our grounds! Come and be the first to see it all! 🎟️Book your tickets via the link in our bio. 📸 @ben.ashley.sharp #exhibition #sussexwalks #bloomsbury #dayout #charleston
4
Download
Install pics from ‘Notes in Confetti’ @miloscgallery ❤️
10
Download
The winner of the 2026 David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Grant is Soheila Sokhanvari @soheila_sokhanvari_ Sokhanvari has won the £50,000 grant, which helps artists to continue the development of their practice. Her practice explores memory, identity and cultural displacement through painting, drawing and installation. Trained initially in biochemistry before turning to fine art, she employs the traditional technique of egg tempera on calf vellum, painstakingly grinding her own pigments to create works that evoke the precision of illuminated manuscripts. This year a special second grant of £10,000 was awarded to Olivia Sterling, a London-based painter whose vividly coloured, tightly composed works examine race, class, gender and social status through scenes of everyday British life. @oliviaster An exhibition featuring all seven shortlisted artists, who were selected and curated by Alyce Mahon — Laia Abril, Aziza Kadyri, Amak Mahmoodian, Niamh O’Malley, Ro Robertson, Soheila Sokhanvari and Olivia Sterling — continues at the gallery until 19 September.
33
Download
Opening this evening: 2026 David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Grant Curated by Alyce Mahon @alycemahon Join us this evening at our Hanover Square gallery space for a reception from 6–8pm, where the recipient of the £50,000 grant will be announced at 7pm. This years shortlisted artists are: Laia Abril, Aziza Kadyri, Amak Mahmoodian, Niamh O’Malley, Ro Robertson, Soheila Sokhanvari, Olivia Sterling The exhibition will continue until 19 September @laia_abril @aziza.kadyri @amak_mahmoodian @omalleyniamh @ro_robertson_ @soheila_sokhanvari_ @oliviaster Installation Images: (1) Laia Abril (2) Aziza Kadyri (3) Amak Mahmoodian (4) Niamh O’Malley (5) Ro Robertson (6) Soheila Sokhanvari (7) Olivia Sterling For more information visit the link in our bio
5
Download
‘Notes in Confetti’ is a pop-up exhibition raising funds for gender-affirming care, bringing together sixteen queer-identifying artists working across painting, drawing, photography and sculpture, curated by Kate Burling. The exhibition focuses on small-scale works that draw on personal and historical queer signifiers. These fragments tell stories of individual and collective experiences, ripped up and scattered like confetti across the room.  From the artwork sales, 50% will go directly towards the fundraiser, while the rest remains with the artist. This structure ensures that the cost of fundraising does not fall on the artists involved, while also creating an opportunity for support from beyond the queer community. The proceeds will fund gender-affirming top surgery and a gender referral consultation. The recipient has chosen to remain anonymous. To ensure transparency, all donors, artists and collectors will receive documentation showing how the proceeds have been used. —— ‘Notes in Confetti’ 11-13 Sept PV: Thu, 10 Sept, 6-9pm Honey Birch @honeybirchstudio Kate Burling @kateburling Eva Dixon @evadixon.png Jody Evans @jdyevns Henry Gibbs @henrymgibbs Georgia Grinter @georgia.grinter Samantha Jackson @sam_jacksonart Bex Massey @masseybex Iris McConnell @irismcc0nnell Stella McGarvey @stellamcgarvey Raga Muñecas @raga.munecas Amelie Peace @amelie__peace Bridie Rushton @bridieeeeeeeeee Olivia Sterling @oliviaster Bo Sun @the98bo Zach Toppin @zachtoppin
20
Download
back to up