About
Bethan Harris (b. 2000) is an artist based in Newcastle upon Tyne, specialising in drawing and painting. Since achieving a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Newcastle University in 2022, her work has been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, Mall Galleries, the Oxo Tower, and Willesden Gallery in London, as well as at the Hatton Gallery, Gallagher & Turner, and Globe Gallery in Newcastle. In April 2024, she was awarded the Young Person's Award for the Derwent Art Prize in London and was recently shortlisted for the North East Emerging Artist Award 2025. Alongside participating in artist residencies across the UK, Bethan has completed public commissions for Newcastle University, the National Trust, Derwent, and the Great North Museum in Newcastle.
Harris’s practice spans both drawing and painting, with a distinctive emphasis on colour as a tool for conveying emotion and atmosphere. Working intuitively, she employs a repetitive mark-making process which repeats a singular motion. Her approach blends observation with abstraction, capturing the ephemeral essence of nature with its movements, textures, and shifting play of light. Harris’s process draws inspiration from personal memories, emotion and local history.
EDUCATION
2024-2025, Collective Studio, The Newbridge Project, UK
2022, Intensive Course, Royal Drawing School, UK
2018-2022, BA Fine Art, Newcastle University, UK
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2025 VARC Full Circle Exhibition, Highgreen, Northumberland, UK
2025 Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
2025 Summer Exhibition, The Old School Gallery, Alnmouth, UK
2025 Summer Exhibition, Redcar Contemporary Art Gallery, Redcar, UK
2025 The Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK
2024 The Newbridge ‘Open’ Open, The Newbridge Project, Newcastle, UK
2024 CIVIC, Globe Gallery and Bridge Gallery, Newcastle, UK
2024 Summer Exhibition, Gallagher and Turner, Newcastle, UK
2024 Derwent Art Prize, OXO Tower, London, UK
2024 Founding, Shieldfield Art Works, Newcastle, UK
2023 Ritual, Willesden Gallery, London, UK
2023 Dawn, The Holy Art Gallery, London, UK
2022 Solo Exhibition, Spread Creative, Essex, UK
2022 Degree Show (London), Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2022 Degree Show, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, UK
2022 Vault: Reopened, Long Gallery Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK
2022 Vault, System Gallery, North Shields, UK
2021 Refracted Commentary, Shipley Art Gallery, Online
2019 Playground, Carliol House, Newcastle, UK
AWARDS:
2025 - The North East Emerging Artist Award (shortlisted)
2025 - The Jacksons Art Prize (longlisted)
2024 - The Derwent Art Prize: Young Persons Prize
RESIDENCIES:
2024 - Northumberland - VARC Residency: Full Circle Programme
2023 - Wales - Mawddach Residency
2022 - Northumberland - VARC Residency
2022 - Northumberland - ACA Residency
PUBLIC COMMISSION:
2025 - Durham University - Art in Schools Programme
2025 - The National Trust - North East Emerging Artist Award
2023 - Derwent – Social Media Content
2022 - Newcastle University - Christmas Card
2021 - Great North Museum - Ceramic Replicas for Children’s Workshops