Tag: Rebecca Salter

Rebecca Salter (b. 1955, London, UK) works with a quiet, meticulous intensity, creating paintings and works on paper that dissolve the boundary between drawing, mark-making and material atmosphere. Influenced by her long study of Japanese aesthetics and printmaking, her surfaces unfold through fine, rhythmic gestures—layers of pigment, graphite and translucent wash that accumulate into subtle fields of light and texture. Her works often feel less painted than breathed into being, offering spaces where attention slows and perception sharpens.

Salter’s practice is grounded in restraint and sensitivity to process. Grids loosen, lines hover, and colour emerges in careful whispers, creating compositions that reward close looking. What appears minimal at first reveals intricate internal structures: a balance of control and openness, precision and drift. The result is work that speaks softly yet holds a deep, meditative charge.

As President of the Royal Academy of Arts—the first woman to hold the position—Salter has been central to shaping conversations around contemporary art in the UK, championing experimentation and cross-cultural exchange. Across her oeuvre, she offers a compelling meditation on the poetics of surface and space, transforming the simplest mark into an encounter with stillness, nuance and the quiet architectures of perception.