Colour, Chaos and Charm: My Visit to the Rose Wylie Exhibition

This month I went to see the Rose Wylie exhibition at the Royal Academy, and it’s honestly one of the best exhibitions I have ever seen..

I’d seen images of her work before, but nothing really prepares you for the scale of it in real life. The paintings are huge — the kind that completely fill a wall — and being stood in front of them felt quite grounding in a way. It made me think about working bigger, being looser, and not overthinking every detail.

What I really loved was her use of colour. It’s bold and sometimes unexpected, but it works. There’s something very instinctive about it, which I found really inspiring. It reminded me how easy it is to get caught up trying to make things “perfect,” when actually the energy of something is often what makes it interesting.

There’s also a looseness to her work that is refreshing. The lines aren’t overly refined, and the compositions feel quite free, but it all comes together in a really confident way. It’s the kind of work that makes you want to go home and just start creating without over-editing yourself.

A few pieces really stood out to me. The Well Cooked Omelette was one of my favourites — it sounds simple, but it really captured that feeling of getting something just right. I think anyone who makes things for a living can relate to that moment when something turns out exactly how you hoped.

I also loved Pink Skater (Will I Win, Will I Win) — it’s such a strong piece, full of movement and personality. Her football paintings were another highlight for me; they feel less about accuracy and more about capturing a moment or a memory, which makes them much more interesting.

I was really drawn to the way she uses collage and text as well. It adds another layer to the work, almost like you’re seeing her thought process as part of the final piece. And Party Clothes, along with her figurative work more generally, felt expressive in a really simple but effective way.

Overall, it left me feeling really inspired to lean further into my own style — to trust my instincts more, work bigger, and be even bolder with colour and composition.

This year, I’ve been to a few other exhibitions as well.

At the Tate Modern, seeing Tracey Emin’s work in person was a real highlight. My Bed is just as impactful as you imagine — raw, honest, and completely unapologetic. I was also drawn to It’s Not the Way I Want to Die, a sculptural installation of a rickety wooden rollercoaster inspired by Dreamland in Margate. The fragility of it really stayed with me — it feels like a physical representation of vulnerability, using the rollercoaster as a metaphor for emotional highs and lows.

At the Turner Prize in Bradford, Zadie Xa’s work stood out. Her piece Moonlit Confessions Across Deep Sea Echoes: Your Ancestors are Whales, and Earth Remembers Everything is incredibly immersive. I loved how it brings together sculpture, painting, sound, and performance to create something rich in storytelling and atmosphere.

At Ones to Watch at Sunny Bank Mills, I was inspired by the fresh, inventive energy of emerging artists. Reece Kelly’s The Beholder felt really special in how it brought people together through workshops to create something collective and personal using recycled materials. Aleksandra Druc’s carved wooden animals, inspired by the wonky charm of taxidermy, had a lovely sense of process and experimentation, and Abbie Bruff’s Rosie’s Bedroom — a soft, intimate cyanotype on fabric — captured a truly honest moment of connection between friends.

It’s been a great reminder to keep looking at other people’s work, to take inspiration from different places, and to keep pushing my own practice forward.

I’d love to hear from you! Have you visited any exhibitions recently that you’d recommend? Share your favourites in the comments — I’m always looking for inspiration!