Shemilt, Elaine
Elaine Shemilt is an artist and researcher, especially known as a printmaking image maker. A pioneer of early feminist video and multi-media installation Shemilt continues to address the impact of war, conflict, censorship and constraint on psychologies and environments in her work.
“Shemilt’s powerful use of the body questions the perception, representation and objectification of female identity and the body. Her work challenges society at large and an art system that had relegated women artists to the margins. In the 1970’s, as the second wave feminists in the UK were battling for equality, pacifism, ecology and labour rights, Shemilt was exploring these topics to fight the marginalisation of women in art.” – Dr Laura Leuzzi
Shemilt is a graduate of Winchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art, and has exhibited internationally including the Hayward Gallery, Imperial War Museum, ICA London, Edinburgh International Festival, MACRO Roma, Bibliotheque Nationale de France and at Casa Goldoni Museum, Venice. Since 2018 her work has been touring within the exhibition Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s from the SAMMLUNG VERBUND Collection, Vienna to Stavanger Art Museum, Stavanger, Norway; Dům umění města Brna, Brno, Czech Republic; Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, Spain, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Austria, Museum of Contemporary Art Vojvodina, Novi Sad (Serbia), and Les Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles Photographic Festival, Arles (France) in 2022. In 2021 at the MAXXI in Rome for S_HE DEVIL 12, the twelfth edition of the video art exhibition, she was declared as the ‘Godmother’ of European video performance through her work Doppelgänger.
Elaine is a founder member of The Centre for Remote Environments and The South Georgia Heritage Trust which were both established to promote the environmental protection and habitat restoration of this natural wilderness in the Southern Atlantic. She is a Shackleton Scholar, Fellow of the Royal Society of Geographers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, professional member of Society of Scottish Artists. Shemilt established the printmaking department of the School of Fine Art, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (University of Dundee) in 1988 and was course director of printmaking from 1988-2001 and Chair of Printmaking from 2001-2021. She is retired from academia but remains Professor Emerita of fine art printmaking and a professional member and former President of the Society of Scottish Artists and was its president from March 2007 until 2010. She has collaborated with the video artist Stephen Partridge on a number of video installations, including “Rush” first exhibited at the Fieldgate Gallery, London in 2007, and “Quattro Minuti di Mezzogiorno”, a HiDefinition Video installation. Exhibited in Fuoriluogo 15 – Una Regressione Motivata, Limiti Inchiusi Arte Contemporanea, Campobasso, Molise, Italy. December 2010, January 2011. The exhibition included work by Fausto Colavecchia (IT), Douglas Gordon (GB), and was curated by Deirdre MacKenna, Director of Stills – Scotland’s centre for photography in Edinburgh.
She is Principal Investigator on the Arts & Humanities Research Council funded projects EWVA – European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s and Richard Demarco | The Italian Connection.
Updated April 2022
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Interview of Elaine Shemilt for REWIND
Interview of Elaine Shemilt for EWVA
View the interview transcript here
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Exhibitions:
2022
- BBC – Video Art
- She Devil Greatest Selection at the MAXXI Museum, curated by Eleonora Farina Rome, 3-10 May, 2021
- Feminist Avant-Garde Of The 1970s | Works From The Verbund Collection- Touring Exhibition
- S_HE DEVIL 12 + MAXXI selection, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo , 8-13 June 2021
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2020
2019
- EWVA, European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s – Book Launch in Venice and TATE London
- New Contemporaries 70th Anniversary Conference – keynote speaker
- Richard Demarco – la strada, le route, the road – a trans-cultural life – Exhibition – Museo Nazionale di Castello Pandone, Venafro
- National Museums of Northern Ireland
- European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s – Book Launch at Tate Modern
- Pioneering Women in Video Art – Talk – Glasgow Women’s Library –
- Parallel Dialogues Through Video and Time, Elaine Shemilt and Federica Marangoni, Museo Carlo Goldoni -Venice
- Venice, Museo Correr – EWVA European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s- Book Launch
2018
- WOMAN – Feminist Avant-Garde of the 1970s from the SAMMLUNG VERBUND Collection, Vienna. Touring exhibition: Stavanger Art Museum, Stavanger, Norway, 16th of June – 14th October, 2018; Dům umění města Brna, Brno, Czech Republic December 11th, 2018 – March 3rd, 2019 ; International Center of Photography, New York City 2020- postponed due to COVID
- Vienna, Sammlung Verbund Collection – Works recently acquired
- 3 Generations of Women Artists Perform, Threshold Artspace at Perth Concert Hall, Perth, Scotland, 8th March 2018
2017
2016
- Contemporary Art From Scotland – Shanghai – Minsheng Art Museum – Shanghai
- Self/portraits: Relating Narratives – Centrespace, Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts
- Doppelgänger Redux – Performance – Visions in the Nunnery – Nunnery Gallery, Bow Arts – London
- Dall’oggi al domani – 24 ore nell’arte contemporanea – Exhibition – MACRO Rome
- Fünf Seen Film Festival 2016 – Breitwand Kino in Starnberg
- EWVA European Women’s Video Art in the 70s and 80s’ screening at ‘BNL Media Art Festival’, MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts, Rome
- SHE:DEVIL8- Exhibition – The Stefania Miscetti Gallery – Rome
2015
- Winterline | One-person show. Museo Nazionale del Molise a Castello Pandone, Venafro,
- Circumference and Radius: C=2πR= Economies of Distance – Touring Exhibition from IMPACT10, 2015-19
- ‘Autoritratti’ at The Showroom, London. 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm, 11th December 2015
2014
2013
- Scales of Life- Major installation/public sculpture for the CTIR building, University of Dundee, October 2014
- Deep Time – Artist’s Book -Published by Art Editions North, September 2013
- Impact 8 International Printmaking Conference. Associated Exhibition
2012
- British Artists’ Video, Careof DOCVA, Milan, Italy, 2012
- REWIND – British Artists’ Video in the 1970s and 1980s, Dundee Contemporary Arts
2011
- Antarctic Journeys: The dry valleys and South Georgia | La Trobe Art Institute, Melbourne, and Bendigo, Australia
- Antarctic Journeys – Melbourne, La Trobe University Gallery, Australia
2010
- Dundee, Visual Research Centre – Antarctic Journeys
- Una Regressione Motivata, Limiti Inchiusi, Campobasso, Italy- Quattro Minuti Di Mezzogiorno, video installation
2007
2006
- A Blueprint For Bacterial Life | Biopolis Centre, Singapore
- A Blueprint For Bacterial Life – Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts
- Incisone di Chieri (Printmaking Triennial), Trienale, Turin, Italy
- International Erwinia Workshop, Dundee
2005
2004
- An installation of digital imaging and traditional etching, VRC, Dundee Contemporary Arts
- Legacy – Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts, March 19-April 4, 2004
- Body Memory (Leibgedächtnis)- Touring Exhibition – The Art Academy, Warsaw, Poland. Waschhaus, Potsdam, Germany. The Cooper Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, Dundee.
2003
- RSA 2003 Annual Exhibition, City Arts Centre, Edinburgh
- Legacy/Images of South Georgia, Lamb Gallery, University of Dundee
2002
- Beyond Conflict, Richard Demarco European Art Foundation Touring Show, opening at Commonwealth Games Manchester
- Digital Mini Print Exhibition, Centre for Fine Print Research UWE, Bristol
- RSA 2002 Annual Exhibition, Mclellan Galleries, Glasgow
- Traces of Conflict | Imperial War Museum – London 2002
2001
- Howard Gardens Gallery, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff
- In-Print , Contemporary Printmaking,Quay Art, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
- XIII Bienal Salon Internacional, Puerto Rico
- RSA 2001 Annual Exhibition, Edinburgh
2000
- Expressions, McManus Gallery, Dundee
- Fragments, Meffan Gallery, Forfar
- Museum Conniston, Oxford Brookes University
- Demarco/70/2000 – The Road to Meikle Siege – Touring Exhibition -University of Kingston, Edinburgh City Art Gallery, Ruskin Oxford
- 13th European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany- May 3-7 2000
- Peacock Gallery, Aberdeen
- re:Identify, Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews
- 8th Biennale de L’Image en Mouvement, Saint Gervais, Geneva, Switzerland
1999
- Chimera – Dick Institute Kilmarnock, July
- Chimera – Cooper Gallery, DJCAD, Dundee
- Chimera – Dundee Contemporary Arts, selected for the opening of DCA, Centre Space, Dundee
1998
1997
- The Richard Demarco East European Art Foundation, Exhibition of Archives
- Jar, Group Show – The Seagate Gallery
- The Glasgow Art Fair
- Behind Appearance, touring Exhibition to: Kansas State University Gallery, Carbondale State University, New Orleans State University, Moorhead State University, The Seagate Gallery, Dundee, last tour venue
- The S.S.A. Touring Exhibition, Aberdeen
- Peacock Art Space, Grampian Hospitals Art Trust Gallery
- A Millennium Bestiary, touring exhibition – University of the West of England
- Hogmanay Festival, The Richard Demarco East Europe Foundation
1996
- Contemporary Scottish Art, Prints RGI Annual Exhibition, Louise Smith Gallery – Toronto
- Networking, Ten Scottish Printmakers, Group Exhibition – Edinburgh Festival
- Brave Art Glasgow Mayfest Exhibition Group Show – Glasgow Printmakers Workshop
- Lamont Gallery – London
1995
- Select One, Special Photographers Library Exhibition
- Repossessed, St Magnus Festival, a Solo Exhibition which accompanied the Festival Poet, Kevin Crossley-Holland’s Poems
- Gathering Group Show, Galerie Beeldspraak, Amsterdam
- The R.S.A. Annual Exhibition
1994
- Stones in Her Pockets, A.C.A.W. Derby & Birmingham
- SSA Annual Exhibition
- Seagate Gallery Paperworks V
- Edinburgh Festival (Richard Demarco European Art Foundation)
- Gallerie Centre d’Art en L’Ile, Geneva
- The RSA 1994 Annual Exhibition (Prints)
- Phillips Gallery, Glasgow
- Seagate Gallery, Dundee
- National Gallery of Modern Art (Thursday’s Child Folio)
- Prints accompanying Thursday’s Child Folio (Child Psychotherapy Trust Scotland)
- Roger Billcliffe Gallery, Glasgow
- Courtauld Gallery, London
- Mary Ward Centre, Bloomsbury, London
- Stoke Hanley Museum and Art Gallery, Staffordshire
1993
- Special Photographers Gallery, London (Prints)
- Stones in Her Pockets, ACAW, London
- Printworks, Seagate Gallery, Dundee
- International Print Biennal, Maastricht
- Seagate Gallery (Installation)
- SSA Annual Exhibition
- RSA Annual Exhibition (Print)
- Three Dimensional Printmakers, Bonnington Gallery, Nottingham (installation)
1992
- Tension
- Scotland in New Europe Demarco Gallery East European Foundation, Edinburgh Festival
- Barbican, London Group
- SSA, Edinburgh
- Janus Avivson Gallery, Chalk Farm, London
1991
- Chancellors Gallery, Keele
- Buxton Museum & Art Gallery, “Frameworks”
- Twerenbold Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland
- Lumley-Cazalet Gallery, London
- 12th International Bradford Print Biennale, Royal College of Art
1990
- Lumley-Cazalet Gallery, Kensington
- The Twerenbold Gallery, Lucerne, Switzerland
- McManus Gallery Group Staff Exhibition
- 11th International Bradford Print Biennale (touring)
- Frameworks, BDP Exhibition, Preston (touring)
- Kindred Spirits, Matthew Gallery, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design
- Kindred Spirits, Ancrum Gallery
- The Women’s Small Photography Exhibition, Mansion Arts Centre, London (Touring)
1989
- The Collective Gallery, Edinburgh
- Seagate Gallery, Christmas Exhibition
- Annual Exhibition of the Society of Scottish Artists, Edinburgh
- Paperworks Seagate Gallery, Dundee
1988
- 11th International Bradford Print Biennale (invited artist)
- Solo Exhibition. Bellfrie Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Seagate Gallery, Dundee
- Bradford Print Biennale
- The Day Book Touring Exhibition
- Andrew Jones Gallery
- Galerie Twerenbold, Lucerne, Switzerland
- Stamford Theatre and Arts Centre
1987
- Kingfisher Gallery, Edinburgh
- RSA Diploma Galleries
- Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
- Petersfield Arts Council
- Aberdeen Artists Society
- 150th Anniversary Exhibition of Printmaking from the Royal college of Art, Barbican Gallery, London
- Royal Festival Hall, London
1986
- An exhibition of International Printmakers, Landesbank, Stuttgart
- Hull College of Art
- Compass Gallery, Glasgow
1985
- Dundee, Macmanus Museum and Art Gallery
- RSA Annual Exhibition, Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh
- Compass Gallery, Glasgow
- Contemporary Printmaking, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
1984
- Annual Exhibition 1984 – Dundee Printmakers Workshop, Seagate, Dundee
- Tom Allen Centre, London
- Aspex Gallery, Exeter
- First Fellows, Winchester Gallery – 1984
1983
- The Nude, Cheltenham
- London, Royal College of Art – Freeze Frame
1982
- Arteder ’82 Muestra International, De Arte Grafico, Bilbao, Spain
- Recent Work | Elaine Shemilt – South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell
1981
- South Hill Park Main Gallery, Berkshire
- Fylde Arts Association
- Performances S.H.P. Arts Centre
1980
- Ancient Death Ritual, Installation, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, 1980
- Edinburgh Festival, Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh
- International Festival of Women Artists, Film Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Hexagon Gallery, Reading
- Fifty Years of Printmaking at the RCA, Royal College of Art, London
1979
- The Road to Meikle Seggie, 9 Royal College of Art Printmakers, Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh, (February), 1979
- Hayward Biennale, Hayward Gallery – Ancient Death Ritual – Installation – 1979
- Minories, Colchester (prints)
1978
- 5th British International Print Biennale, Cartwright Hall
- London Polytechnic
- Emotive Progression – Performance – The Royal College of Art, London
- New Contemporaries – Live Show, London, Acme Gallery, London, 1976
1977
- Installation at Gulbenkian Gallery, Royal College of Art, London1977
- International Print Biennale, National Gallery, Singapore
1976
- Winchester Association, Guildhall, Winchester
1975
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Videography:
1974 Iamdead
1975 Conflict
1975 Emotive Progression
1976 Art into Protest
1978 Constraint
1979-81 Doppelgänger
1984 Women Soldiers
1999 Chimera (4-channel 8 screen installation)
1999 Chimera (Colour stereo widescreen video)
2006 Blueprint (High definition colour animation)
2007 Rush (with Stephen Partridge)
2011 Quattro Minuti di Mezzogiorno (with Stephen Partridge) -
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