Henry Ward
Born 1971, London, United Kingdom
Lives and works in London, United Kingdom
Henry Ward is a London-based painter whose practice explores the possibilities of painting through an engagement with memory, place, observation and abstraction. He studied Fine Art Painting at Winchester School of Art before completing a Post Graduate Certificate of Education at Goldsmiths College and a PhD in Teaching as Artistic Practice at Middlesex University. His work has been exhibited widely in the UK and internationally, and has been selected for numerous major painting and drawing prizes. In 2023, Ward was artist in residence at The Albers Foundation in Connecticut, USA. His first substantial monograph, Bethany, published by Anomie in 2025, brings together work made during and following the residency, with contributions from Jonathan Watkins, Amy Sillman and Jenni Lomax.
Education
2013, PhD, Teaching as Artistic Practice, Middlesex University, London, United Kingdom. 1999, Post Graduate Certificate of Education, Goldsmiths College, London, United Kingdom. 1993, BA (Hons) Fine Art Painting, Winchester School of Art, Winchester, United Kingdom.
Awards
2026, Contemporary British Painting Prize, Longlisted, Huddersfield, United Kingdom. 2025, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Shortlisted, London and national, United Kingdom. 2024, Wells Contemporary, Shortlisted, Wells, United Kingdom. 2022, ArtLogic Exhibition of the Art Fair Award, London Art Fair; Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Shortlisted, London and national, United Kingdom; The Football Art Prize, Shortlisted, Rochdale and national, United Kingdom. 2021, BEEP Biannual, Shortlisted, Swansea, United Kingdom. 2020, Contemporary British Painting Prize, Longlisted, Huddersfield, United Kingdom; BEEP Biannual, Shortlisted, Swansea, United Kingdom. 2019, Wells Contemporary, Shortlisted, Wells, United Kingdom; Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Shortlisted, London and national, United Kingdom. 2018, Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, Shortlisted, London and national, United Kingdom.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2025, Album, Canal Boat Contemporary, London; Dumb Ritual, Vivienne Roberts Projects, London; Bethany, Book launch & presentation, Frestonian Gallery, London. 2024, Medusa & Other Stories, London Art Fair, Kittoe Contemporary, London; Engine Room, m2 Gallery, London. 2023, From Woolwich, Oasis, Frinton-on-Sea. 2021, Baffle, Aleph Contemporary, London. 2018, Abracadabra, AMP Gallery, London.
Selected Recent Group Exhibitions
2026, Painters’ Table – Henry Ward & Dougal McKenzie, Arcade Gallery, Belfast; Bone Deep, The FG Gallery, Cheshire; Odyssey, Hastings Contemporary, Hastings; The Gloaming Plane, Terrace Gallery, London and Ausstellungen Installationen Projekte, Krefeld, Germany. 2025, The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London; London Group Open, Copeland Gallery, London; Cahoots, Phoenix Art Space, Brighton; The Lido Open, Lido Stores, Margate; Shared Origins, Winns Gallery, London. 2024, Knot – Rachael Causer & Henry Ward, Stone Space, London; Concrete Abstract, Terrace Gallery, London; G.R.I.T, Kunstpunkt, Berlin and Drawing Projects UK, Dundee; Cubitt Invites, Cubitt Studios & Gallery, London. 2023, Colour, Texture, Substance, No Name, Warbling Collective, Kingsgate Space, London; Look Both Ways – Dan Preece & Henry Ward, Kittoe Contemporary, London; Don’t Look Back, Vivienne Roberts Projects, London; Carnevale – Friendly Little Monsters, Vivienne Roberts Projects, London; Shapeshifter, Irving Gallery, Oxford.
Residencies
2023, The Albers Foundation, Connecticut, USA. Ward has also undertaken residencies in France, Norway and Cornwall.
Monograph
2025, Bethany, Anomie Publications. The monograph features work made during and following Ward’s residency at The Albers Foundation, with an essay by Jonathan Watkins and conversations with American painter Amy Sillman and curator Jenni Lomax.
Collections
Soho House Collection; private collections in the UK and internationally.
