Aphra Shemza

Born: UK.  Based in London

Middlesex University (BA Hons Fine Art , 2012)

Aphra Shemza is a London based multimedia artist exploring the impact and legacy of technology on our world. Working with abstraction, interactivity and light, Shemza combines traditional sculpting techniques with the latest technology to create her work. Shemza’s work is multidisciplinary making reference to Modernism with a renewed optimism.

Shemza has created both public and private commissions: Seconds Pass for Save the Children, GlaxoSmithKline and Anagram this year, Post-Truth and Beauty commissioned by Morley College in 2017, and Heart Beats of Cristal for Champagne Louis Roederer,  exhibited in the Shard, London in 2016.

She exhibits regularly with recent highlights including V&A Digital Futures, Winter Lights Festival and Xi’an Maker Faire in China with the British Council. She has also participated in public speaking events, notably at Tate Britain, the British Library and The Courtauld Institute.

In 2018 she launched www.art-ology.co.uk, a peer resource for artists who wish to be mindful of their environmental impact with the support of SPACE.

Her research about sustainability in the media arts has been published by the Electronic Visual Arts conference in London, and she now sits on their organising committee. She also contributed an article to Tate Etc magazine in 2016.

In 2016 she co-founded FLUX Events, a peer networking charity for artists working at the intersection of art, technology and science. Shemza co-curates the yearly programme of talks, exhibitions and events and oversees the day to day running of the charity.

Alongside her art practice, she has been the manager of the Estate of Anwar Jalal Shemza since 2012, championing the work of her grandfather and continuing his legacy, through exhibitions, publications and more. 

EDUCATION

2012       Middlesex University, London, BA (Hons) in Fine Art
2009      Chesterfield College, Foundation Art

RESIDENCIES / AWARDS

2018      Shortlisted for the ING Discerning Eye competition
2017      LCN & SPACE Studios Artist Development Program
      Finalist for the Artists’ Pool Illusions open call
      Finalist in the Its Art Call 2017 open call
2016      Shortlisted for the Blooom Award by Warsteiner
      Finalist in the Zealous X Competition
      Finalist in the Chroma Red Edition open Call
2015      Finalist for Lights of Soho ‘Signs that Say What you Want Them to Say’
2009      Student of the year at Chesterfield College
2007      Shortlisted for the NADFAS award

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2018      ING Discerning Eye, The Mall Galleries, London, UK
      V & A Digital Futures, British Computer Society, London, UK
      Kallida Festival, Baskerville Hall, Wales
      Selected Works, ITS Clubhouse, London, UK
      ART IN FLUX: Experiments in Media Arts Now, Ugly Duck, London, UK
      Silicon Milk Roundabout, Truman Brewery, London, UK
      The Other Art Fair, Victoria House, London, UK
      4th LCN Showcase, Space Studios, London, UK
      Universal Motherhood, Save the Children & Glaxosmithkline, London, UK
2017      Illusions, Menier Gallery, London, UK
      It’s Art Call 2017, D Contemporary, London, UK
      Xi’an Maker Faire, Xi’an, China
      EVA, British Computer Society, London, UK
      Love Scenes, Lights of Soho, London, UK
      The Engine Room: International Sound Art, London, UK
      Illuminating Geometry, Gallery 286, London, UK
      The Other Art Fair, Victoria House, London UK
      Light Bites, Off Quay, London UK
      Winter Lights, Canary Wharf, London, UK
2016      Heart Beats of Cristal, Shangri-La Hotel, The Shard, London, UK
      Seeing the Unseen, Four Corners Gallery, London, UK
      Cannes Film Festival, Cannes, France
      Selected Works, Level 39, One Canada Square, London, UK
      Lights of Soho at The Other Art Fair, London, UK
      Chroma Red Edition, Safehouse 1, London, UK
      Zealous X, Rich Mix, London, UK
2015      Gravity, Kinetica Museum at the Hospital Club, London, UK
      Signs that Say What You Want Them to Say, Lights of Soho, London, UK
      Art of Burning Man, Lights of Soho, London, UK
      City Lights, Lights of Soho, London, UK
      PHI, Squat the Sun, London, UK
2014      Cosmophilia, Print House, London, UK
2013      ‘The Doors of Perception: The Thin Veil, Kinetica Art Fair, London, UK
      Transition, Red Gallery, London, UK
2012      Kinetica Auction Exhibition, Mother, London, UK
      RAW MMXII: Art & Design Degree Show, The Truman Brewery, London
      The Final Broadcast, The Russet Gallery, London, UK
2011      The Laws of Nature, Subway Gallery, London, UK
      New Matter, Red Gate Gallery, London, UK
2007     NADFAS exhibition, Thebes Gallery, Lewes, UK

PUBLICATIONS

Shemza, A., ‘It Starts with the Artist: Solutions for a Sustainable Media Arts Practice,’ in P.Bowen, J, Diprose, G & Lambert, N (eds), EVA London 2018, British Computer Society, London, 2018, pp. 188-192. (Link) Shemza, A., ‘Public Interactive Art: Environmental Challenges,’ in P.Bowen, J, Diprose, G & Lambert, N (eds), EVA London 2017, British Computer Society, London, 2017, pp. 91-93. (Link) Shemza, A, ‘My Grandfather, Anwar Jalal Shemza’, Tate Etc, 16th October 2015. pp. 18-21. (Link)

PRESS

Glodeane Brown, On Art and Innovation: Interview with Aphra Shemza, Culture Fancier, 27th April 2018. (Link) London Live, The Other Art Fair Returns, 22nd March 2018. (Link), Christina Nafzinger, Collapsing the wall that separates technology and nature with the artist Aphra Shemza, Art Maze Mag, Summer 2017. (Link) Tabish Khan, The Top 7 Art Exhibition to see this week in London, FAD Magazine, 20th August 2017. (Link) Matthew Crist, In Conversation with Aphra Shemza, Autumn 2016. (Link) Lorraine Crighton-Smith, Luxury London, 14th October 2016. Luxury Channel, Champagne Louis Roederer Cristal: Made for Royalty, October 2016. (Link) My Grandfather, Anwar Jalal Shemza, Tate Etc, 16th October 2015. pp.18-21 (Link) Gravity: Universal and Cosmic Art, Time Out, October edition. (Link), Composition XI, featured in GQ Magazine, October edition, Composition X featured in Time Out, October edition, Rob Wilkes, NK Guy’s: Art of the Burning Man, 17th August 2015. (Link), Nooneartist, The Launch of “Into the Spotlight” with Nooneartist and Lights of Soho, 4th July 2015. (Link), Christina Lopez, Lights of Soho opens with City Lights, 4th June 2015. (Link)

COLLECTIONS / COMMISSIONS

2018      Polychromy, commissioned by KALLIDA on the occasion of their festival.
      Seconds Pass, commissioned by Save the Children and Glaxosmithkline.
2017      Post Truth and Beauty, International Sound Art Exhibition
2016      Heart Beats of Cristal, Louis Roederer, Shangri’La Hotel, The Shard
      Composition XV, Canary Wharf Group, Level 39, One Canada Square