Playful and expressive abstract paintings celebrating everyday acts of love. Using repetition, hidden layers of colour, fragments and erasures Jess explores the complex mental, physical and emotional loads that are involved in raising a family and keeping connected.

'What makes a good abstract painting? It has something to do with believing it is necessary rather than willed, that it is meaningful even if you can't put it into words. Jess Blandford's work has these qualities, as well as fleshy, sensual colours and brushstrokes, reminiscent of Willem de Kooning.' - Jonathan Jones Art Critic for the Guardian.

Fresh from success at the RA summer exhibition (selected for the last 3 years - this year’s painting was also reproduced as a print) and a solo show at Southwark Park Galleries, we're delighted to present Jess’s collection at the Affordable Art Fair for the first time.

‘I’ve always been fascinated by domestic spaces, but since becoming a mother, I’ve become increasingly preoccupied with familial roles, flawed structures and problematic expectations, informed by my personal experience of care-giving.’

Jess Blandford (b. 1973) trained at Chelsea College of Art (2005-06) and Camberwell College of Art (2006-09) followed by studying for an MA in printmaking at Royal College of Art (2010-11), Advanced Painting at Morley College (2022-23) and Turps Banana Correspondence Course (2024-25).

Solo Exhibitions: Tender, Southwark Park Galleries, London, 2025; Artist Open House, Dulwich Festival, London, 2019-2025; Lineation, Crypt of St Mary-le-Bow church, London, 2020; (Un)Tethered, Copper Beech, Dulwich, 2019.

Selected Group Exhibitions: Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, 2025, 2024, 2023; The Weight of Things, Morley Gallery, London, 2025; Winter Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London, 2024- Prize Winner; (Un)Visible, Safehouse 1, London, 2024; Layers of Being, Safehouse 2, London, 2023; In Conversation, Jeannie Avent Gallery, London, 2023; Women in Art Fair, Mall Galleries, London, 2023; Beyond the Palette, Barry Till Gallery at Morley College, London, 2023; Winter Open, Southwark Park Galleries, London, 2022; Made in Peckham, Bussey Building, London, 2022.