Biography
Yana Trevail is a painter, printmaker and performer preoccupied with the interconnectedness of all things and, through the exploration of internal and external topographical themes, developing idiosyncratic expressions of energy.
She won the Chairman’s Prize in 2000 and the Meynell Fenton Prize in 2002 at the Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London for which she was also an Invited Artist in 2003 and 2008.
In 2004 she was the recipient of an Arts Council of England Award.
Her work has been selected for numerous exhibitions including the BP Portrait Awards: National Portrait Gallery; The Hunting Art Prizes: Royal College of Art and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
In 1975 she met the painter Robert Lenkiewicz with whom she studied and sat for. She was his studio assistant from 1997 until his death in 2002.
Works are held in private and public collections in the UK and internationally.
She lives and works on Dartmoor, Devon, UK
Awards
2020 SWAc Awards | Guest Judge Anthony Frost Choice
2004 Arts Council of England | Individual Artist Award
Prizes
2019 1st Prize Short Film | Tavistock Go Gothic Festival view film
2007 Artspaces Prize | South West Academy Open
2007 St David's Prize | South West Academy Open
2002 Meynell Fenton Prize | The Discerning Eye
2002 M. Baker Award for Painting & Drawing | South West Academy Open
2001 Chairman's Prize | The Discerning Eye
1998 First Prize | Sterts Figurative Open
Solo exhibitions
2014 Westall Centre Gallery, Mount Kelly, Tavistock
2012 Domus de Janas | Bowie Gallery, Totnes, UK
2010 Strange Dichotomy | Horsham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
2010 Strange Dichotomy | Tamar Valley Centre, Cornwall, UK [commission]
2010 Presence | Bowie Gallery, Totnes, UK
2009 Dark Skies | Bowie Gallery, Totnes, UK
2004 Absence: New Street Gallery, Plymouth, UK
Selected group exhibitions
2023
21 GROUP | Theatre Royal Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
ARTMILL 100 |Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
2022
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS |Penwith Gallery, St. Ives
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 |Theatre Royal Plymouth
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Theatre Royal Plymouth
SOUTH WEST OPEN INVITATION| Artizan Collective, Torquay
21 GROUP | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2021
21 GROUP | Birdwood House, Totnes
21 GROUP | Penwith Gallery, St Ives
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 |Theatre Royal Plymouth
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 |Torre Abbey Museum | Torquay, Devon
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 | Crapo Gallery, CVPA, University of Massachusetts, USA
2020
REFLECTIONS | South West Academy | Online exhibition
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 | Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis MA USA
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS |Penwith Gallery, St. Ives
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2019
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Theatre Royal Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2018
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Exeter Castle, Exeter
SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTS 157TH OPEN | Mall Galleries, London
OCEAN STUDIOS ORIGINAL PRINT EXHIBITION | Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard, Plymouth
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2017
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
DRAWN: Biennial drawing exhibition | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
IMPRESSIONS 6 | Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
MINING LEGACY OF THE TAMAR VALLEY | Tamar Valley Centre, Gunnislake, Cornwall
LAND AND WATER - Plymouth Society of Artists | Plymouth Museum & Art Gallery on Tour, Plymouth Council House
2016
WINTER EXHIBITION | New Street Gallery, Plymouth
THE COLOUR OF THE COLOUR | Brownston Gallery, Modbury, Devon
CHAIR-ITY | Bowie gallery, Totnes, Devon
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2015
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Penwith Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2014
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Autumn show, Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
2012
BUNKER PROJECT 2 | RAF Bolt Head, Salcombe, Devon, UK
2011
BAS7 Fringe | New Street Gallery, Plymouth UK
2008
DISCERNING EYE |: Mall Galleries, London [Invited artist]
ARTSPACES | The Gallery,Peninsula Arts, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth UK
2007
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Clifford Fishwick Gallery, Exeter UK
AFFORDABLE ART FAIR | Battersea, London [Represented by Bowie Gallery]
2006
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Cube³Gallery, Peninsula Arts, University of Plymouth UK
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW | New Street Gallery, Plymouth UK
ENCORE | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol UK
2005
153rd AUTUMN OPEN | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol UK
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Phoenix Arts, Exeter; Exeter City Musuem & Art Gallery UK
2004
WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT | Theatre Royal, Plymouth UK
DRAWING THE LINE | Coombe Gallery, Dittisham, Devon UK
2003
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London [Invited artist]
2002
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Phoenix Arts, Exeter; Exeter City Museum & Art Gallery UK
2001
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London
AFFORDABLE ART FAIR | Bath, UK [Represented by New Street Gallery]
2000
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Phoenix Arts, Exeter UK
1999
FIVE WOMEN PAINTERS | White Lane Gallery, Plymouth UK
1998
HUNTING ART PRIZES | Royal College of Art, London; Newport Museum & Art Gallery, UK
BP PORTRAIT AWARDS | National Portrait Gallery, London; Aberdeen Art Gallery
ROYAL SOCIETY OF PORTRAIT PAINTERS | Mall Galleries, London
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS OPEN | Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery, UK
STERTS FIGURATIVE OPEN | The Hall Gallery, Liskeard, Cornwall UK
1997
BP PORTRAIT AWARDS | National Portrait Gallery, London; Aberdeen Art Gallery; Ulster Museum, Belfast , N. Ireland
LETS FACE IT - Contemporary Portraits | The Black Swan Guild, Frome, Somerset UK
1996
BP PORTRAIT AWARDS | National Portrait Gallery, London; Aberdeen Art Gallery
HEBDEN BRIDGE ARTS FESTIVAL | West Yorkshire, UK
1977
Etchings - Plymouth College of Art | Plymouth City Art Gallery & Museum, UK
Education
1977-1980 Wimbledon School of Art: BA hons Fine Art – Painting
1976-1977 Plymouth College of Art: Foundation course
Public collections
Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis MA USA
Memberships
2014 - Present: Elected member of the Plymouth Society of Artists
2021 - Present: Elected member of 21 Group
She won the Chairman’s Prize in 2000 and the Meynell Fenton Prize in 2002 at the Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London for which she was also an Invited Artist in 2003 and 2008.
In 2004 she was the recipient of an Arts Council of England Award.
Her work has been selected for numerous exhibitions including the BP Portrait Awards: National Portrait Gallery; The Hunting Art Prizes: Royal College of Art and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.
In 1975 she met the painter Robert Lenkiewicz with whom she studied and sat for. She was his studio assistant from 1997 until his death in 2002.
Works are held in private and public collections in the UK and internationally.
She lives and works on Dartmoor, Devon, UK
Awards
2020 SWAc Awards | Guest Judge Anthony Frost Choice
2004 Arts Council of England | Individual Artist Award
Prizes
2019 1st Prize Short Film | Tavistock Go Gothic Festival view film
2007 Artspaces Prize | South West Academy Open
2007 St David's Prize | South West Academy Open
2002 Meynell Fenton Prize | The Discerning Eye
2002 M. Baker Award for Painting & Drawing | South West Academy Open
2001 Chairman's Prize | The Discerning Eye
1998 First Prize | Sterts Figurative Open
Solo exhibitions
2014 Westall Centre Gallery, Mount Kelly, Tavistock
2012 Domus de Janas | Bowie Gallery, Totnes, UK
2010 Strange Dichotomy | Horsham Museum and Art Gallery, UK
2010 Strange Dichotomy | Tamar Valley Centre, Cornwall, UK [commission]
2010 Presence | Bowie Gallery, Totnes, UK
2009 Dark Skies | Bowie Gallery, Totnes, UK
2004 Absence: New Street Gallery, Plymouth, UK
Selected group exhibitions
2023
21 GROUP | Theatre Royal Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
ARTMILL 100 |Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
2022
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS |Penwith Gallery, St. Ives
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 |Theatre Royal Plymouth
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Theatre Royal Plymouth
SOUTH WEST OPEN INVITATION| Artizan Collective, Torquay
21 GROUP | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2021
21 GROUP | Birdwood House, Totnes
21 GROUP | Penwith Gallery, St Ives
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 |Theatre Royal Plymouth
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 |Torre Abbey Museum | Torquay, Devon
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 | Crapo Gallery, CVPA, University of Massachusetts, USA
2020
REFLECTIONS | South West Academy | Online exhibition
JOURNEY | Tamar Valley Printmakers and The Printmakers of Cape Cod | Mayflower 400 | Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis MA USA
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS |Penwith Gallery, St. Ives
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2019
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Theatre Royal Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2018
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Exeter Castle, Exeter
SOCIETY OF WOMEN ARTISTS 157TH OPEN | Mall Galleries, London
OCEAN STUDIOS ORIGINAL PRINT EXHIBITION | Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard, Plymouth
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2017
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
DRAWN: Biennial drawing exhibition | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
IMPRESSIONS 6 | Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
MINING LEGACY OF THE TAMAR VALLEY | Tamar Valley Centre, Gunnislake, Cornwall
LAND AND WATER - Plymouth Society of Artists | Plymouth Museum & Art Gallery on Tour, Plymouth Council House
2016
WINTER EXHIBITION | New Street Gallery, Plymouth
THE COLOUR OF THE COLOUR | Brownston Gallery, Modbury, Devon
CHAIR-ITY | Bowie gallery, Totnes, Devon
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2015
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Penwith Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
FRESH OFF THE PRESS - New work by members of Tamar Print Workshop | Limekiln Gallery, Calstock, Cornwall
2014
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS | Autumn show, Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
2012
BUNKER PROJECT 2 | RAF Bolt Head, Salcombe, Devon, UK
2011
BAS7 Fringe | New Street Gallery, Plymouth UK
2008
DISCERNING EYE |: Mall Galleries, London [Invited artist]
ARTSPACES | The Gallery,Peninsula Arts, Roland Levinsky Building, University of Plymouth UK
2007
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Clifford Fishwick Gallery, Exeter UK
AFFORDABLE ART FAIR | Battersea, London [Represented by Bowie Gallery]
2006
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Cube³Gallery, Peninsula Arts, University of Plymouth UK
THE LAST PICTURE SHOW | New Street Gallery, Plymouth UK
ENCORE | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol UK
2005
153rd AUTUMN OPEN | Royal West of England Academy, Bristol UK
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Phoenix Arts, Exeter; Exeter City Musuem & Art Gallery UK
2004
WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT | Theatre Royal, Plymouth UK
DRAWING THE LINE | Coombe Gallery, Dittisham, Devon UK
2003
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London [Invited artist]
2002
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Phoenix Arts, Exeter; Exeter City Museum & Art Gallery UK
2001
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London
AFFORDABLE ART FAIR | Bath, UK [Represented by New Street Gallery]
2000
DISCERNING EYE | Mall Galleries, London
SOUTH WEST ACADEMY OPEN | Phoenix Arts, Exeter UK
1999
FIVE WOMEN PAINTERS | White Lane Gallery, Plymouth UK
1998
HUNTING ART PRIZES | Royal College of Art, London; Newport Museum & Art Gallery, UK
BP PORTRAIT AWARDS | National Portrait Gallery, London; Aberdeen Art Gallery
ROYAL SOCIETY OF PORTRAIT PAINTERS | Mall Galleries, London
PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF ARTISTS OPEN | Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery, UK
STERTS FIGURATIVE OPEN | The Hall Gallery, Liskeard, Cornwall UK
1997
BP PORTRAIT AWARDS | National Portrait Gallery, London; Aberdeen Art Gallery; Ulster Museum, Belfast , N. Ireland
LETS FACE IT - Contemporary Portraits | The Black Swan Guild, Frome, Somerset UK
1996
BP PORTRAIT AWARDS | National Portrait Gallery, London; Aberdeen Art Gallery
HEBDEN BRIDGE ARTS FESTIVAL | West Yorkshire, UK
1977
Etchings - Plymouth College of Art | Plymouth City Art Gallery & Museum, UK
Education
1977-1980 Wimbledon School of Art: BA hons Fine Art – Painting
1976-1977 Plymouth College of Art: Foundation course
Public collections
Cape Cod Museum of Art, Dennis MA USA
Memberships
2014 - Present: Elected member of the Plymouth Society of Artists
2021 - Present: Elected member of 21 Group
The Colour of the colour | Exhibition catalogue
attachment_5824844000000734005_attach_1_7117480247590635297_5artists_brownston_2016_brochure_sml.pdf |
Absence 2004: Introduction to exhibition catalogue by John Caine
Discussing one of Berthe Morrisot's self-portraits in her book, Images of Women, Anne Higgonet writes, 'The self-portrait... is the artist's remorseless display of her most intimate self'. It was for a self-portrait that I awarded Yana Trevail the Chairman's Prize at the 2001 Discerning Eye exhibition at the mall Galleries in London. The feature of her work that impressed me then, and that visitors to this exhibition I am sure will recognise, is the innate honesty of her work expressed precisely in those words of Anne Higgonet.
Yana's work is anchored in reality. Not simply in an effort to capture a superficial image of her subjects, but in a search for truth - her 'remorseless display of her most intimate self'. While her truthfulness is shown most explicitly in her portraits and self-portraits, the same rigor is immediately obvious in all of her work.
One could not imagine Yana working in watercolour; it would be too ephemeral a medium, and by it's very nature resistent to the rich, intense colour that is such an integral part of her work. Yana works from direct observation and her larger paintings can take weeks of intensely concentrated effort. As a result the paintings in this exhibtion represent two years' work.
Invariably, Yana's paintings invite us to observe a single subject, a headless torso, a chair, a spray of dead flowers. Her deliberate selection of such individual subjects demonstrates the integrity of of her vision and the skill with which she handles her chosen medium, In Yana's own words, 'through the stillness and isolation of these objects, I am trying to accentuate the physical presence and energy of those objects'. The viewer might conclude that these striking images also offer an insight into the artist's more personal narrative. The chairs are empty, the flowers dead and the torso headless.
Other artists have chosen similar subjects; Van Gogh's rush-bottomed chair, Dali's plastic torsos, the Bouquet of Violets by Edouard Manet. Robert Lenkiewicz - with whom Yana studied painting - also made paintings of empty chairs. Yana invests these otherwise anonymous and inanimate objects with a special and personal meaning. We are made acutely aware of the particular relevance these subjects have to the artist's life. There is an emphasis on 'absence' in these paintings.Who was it held the flowers when they were freshly cut? Who sat in the chair? Whose head would allow us to identify the nude body?
I have made the comparison - or rather connection - with Morisot and Yana Trevail, because both of these women in their different ways and in their different times approached their art in a similar manner. There is a self-portrait by Berthe Morisot that would be at home in this exhibition. Made in 1885, it shows the artist looking directly back at the viewer, without evasion and without fear. For me that sumarizes the work of yana Trevail. Her paintings shine with her skill and glow with her unselfconscious integrity.
John Caine MBE FRSA is an author and playwright, and is Director and Trustee of The Discerning Eye
Discussing one of Berthe Morrisot's self-portraits in her book, Images of Women, Anne Higgonet writes, 'The self-portrait... is the artist's remorseless display of her most intimate self'. It was for a self-portrait that I awarded Yana Trevail the Chairman's Prize at the 2001 Discerning Eye exhibition at the mall Galleries in London. The feature of her work that impressed me then, and that visitors to this exhibition I am sure will recognise, is the innate honesty of her work expressed precisely in those words of Anne Higgonet.
Yana's work is anchored in reality. Not simply in an effort to capture a superficial image of her subjects, but in a search for truth - her 'remorseless display of her most intimate self'. While her truthfulness is shown most explicitly in her portraits and self-portraits, the same rigor is immediately obvious in all of her work.
One could not imagine Yana working in watercolour; it would be too ephemeral a medium, and by it's very nature resistent to the rich, intense colour that is such an integral part of her work. Yana works from direct observation and her larger paintings can take weeks of intensely concentrated effort. As a result the paintings in this exhibtion represent two years' work.
Invariably, Yana's paintings invite us to observe a single subject, a headless torso, a chair, a spray of dead flowers. Her deliberate selection of such individual subjects demonstrates the integrity of of her vision and the skill with which she handles her chosen medium, In Yana's own words, 'through the stillness and isolation of these objects, I am trying to accentuate the physical presence and energy of those objects'. The viewer might conclude that these striking images also offer an insight into the artist's more personal narrative. The chairs are empty, the flowers dead and the torso headless.
Other artists have chosen similar subjects; Van Gogh's rush-bottomed chair, Dali's plastic torsos, the Bouquet of Violets by Edouard Manet. Robert Lenkiewicz - with whom Yana studied painting - also made paintings of empty chairs. Yana invests these otherwise anonymous and inanimate objects with a special and personal meaning. We are made acutely aware of the particular relevance these subjects have to the artist's life. There is an emphasis on 'absence' in these paintings.Who was it held the flowers when they were freshly cut? Who sat in the chair? Whose head would allow us to identify the nude body?
I have made the comparison - or rather connection - with Morisot and Yana Trevail, because both of these women in their different ways and in their different times approached their art in a similar manner. There is a self-portrait by Berthe Morisot that would be at home in this exhibition. Made in 1885, it shows the artist looking directly back at the viewer, without evasion and without fear. For me that sumarizes the work of yana Trevail. Her paintings shine with her skill and glow with her unselfconscious integrity.
John Caine MBE FRSA is an author and playwright, and is Director and Trustee of The Discerning Eye