Born in London 1961, Morag Ballard studied initially at Chelsea School of Art, London 1981-2 where she first experimented with the interrelationships between two dimensional and three dimensional expressions of form.
This led her to study sculpture at Bath Academy of Art, Corsham Court 1982-5 developing individual sculptures of plaster, string and fabric into broadly conceived installations in large interior spaces. Here she studied under Michael Pennie and Ken Hughes and came into contact with some of the leading British sculptors of the time including Richard Deacon and Antony Gormley.
In 1983 she was awarded the Gane Trust Travel Scholarship for sculpture taking her to Carrara, Italy.
"Untitled 1985" Plaster 36 x 40x 50 ins.
On completing her degree, Morag Ballard was awarded a student internship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice in 1986. where she found her direction validated by the study of works of the Russian Constructivists, the paintings of Jean Helion and the boxes of Joseph Cornell.
On her return to the U.K. Morag Ballard set up studio in South West Scotland where she began to develop her ideas through paintings, reliefs and boxed constructions, work which led to her first showing at England & Co. London in 1991.
After five years in Scotland, Morag Ballard moved to Penzance where her work was aesthetically in tune with the line of abstraction that had developed in Cornwall via Naum Gabo , Peter Lanyon and John Wells.
"Acoustic" 2004 Oil on canvas 71 x 75 ins.
Sometimes suggestive of architectural forms and classical geometric pattern, her work delivers a definite sculptural impact, occasionally enhanced by the employment of relief and shaped or curved canvases.
Developed in a large studio overlooking Mounts Bay, Morag's lyrical paintings continue their formal exploration of implied space and structure, most recently through defined linear elements.
"Linear" 2016 Oil on canvas 30 x 40 ins.
Solo Exhibitions
1991 Morag Ballard : Constructions, Reliefs & Works on Paper, England & Co. London
1993 Morag Ballard : Constructions, Reliefs, Paintings, England & Co. London
1996 Morag Ballard : Recent Works, England & Co. London
2001 Morag Ballard : Recent Work, England & Co. London
2003 Morag Ballard : Recent Work, England & Co. London
2005 Morag Ballard : Recent Work, England & Co. London
2008 Morag Ballard : Recent Paintings, England & Co. London
2013 Morag Ballard : Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
2017 Morag Ballard : Andelli Art, Somerset
2021 Morag Ballard : Andelli Art, Somerset
Group Exhibitions
1985 Group Exhibition, The Edge, Walcot Street, Bath
1991 Art in Boxes, England & Co. London
Group Exhibition, Gordon Hepworth Gallery Exeter
1992 Art in Boxes, England & Co. London
Twentieth Century Art Fair, Royal College of Art, London ( England & Co. )
1993 Art in Boxes, England & Co. London
Art in Boxes, ( Curated by Jane England ) Castle Museum, Nottingham
Twentieth Century Art Fair , Royal College of Art, London ( England & Co. )
1994 Gallery Artists, England & Co. London
Group Exhibition, White Lane Gallery, Plymouth
1999 Continuation, England & Co. London
1995-2012 Exhibited in annual exhibitions: Gallery Artists, England & Co. London
Exhibited with England & Co. Art 95 to Art 2003, (London Contemporary Art Fair)
London Art Fair, 2004-2007
All at the Business Design Centre, London
2007 20/ 21 Art Fair, Royal College of Art London ( England & Co. )
2008 The London Art Fair, Business Design Centre, London ( England & Co. )
Summer Exhibition, England & Co. London
2009 City X, England & Co. London
London Art Fair 2009, Business Design Centre, London ( England & Co.)
2010 Pallant House Gallery, Chichester: alongside John Tunnard, Inner Space to Outer Space and
St, Ives and Beyond
2011 Old & New: A Kind of Equivalence, England & Co. London
2012 London Art Fair 2012, Business Design Centre, London ( England & Co.)
2012 Royal Academy of Arts, London. Summer Exhibition
2013 Cadogan Contemporary, London. Summer Exhibition
The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
Invited artist of Liz Anderson, Art Editor ‘The Spectator’
Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives. Yuletide Exhibition
2014 London Art Fair 2014, Business Design Centre, London ( Lemon Street Gallery )
Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives. Contemporary Art
Summer Exhibition 2014
Lemon Street Gallery, Truro. Fifteen Years
Josie Eastwood Fine Art, Hampshire. The Autumn Exhibition 2014
The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
Belgrave Gallery, St. Ives. Christmas and New Year Exhibition
2015 Spring Exhibition 2015 Josie Eastwood Fine Art
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol. 163 Open Exhibition
2016 The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2017 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol. 165 Open Exhibition
2018 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol. 166 Open Exhibition
2019 Royal Academy of Arts, London. Summer Exhibition
Andelli Art, Somerset. Perfectly Formed
Wells Art Contemporary: WAC Awards 2019, Wells Cathedral
2021 Chippenham Museum, Spotlight On: Modern & Contemporary Art
from the Collection of Chippenham Museum
Andelli Art, Somerset. Perfectly Formed
Wells Art Contemporary: WAC Awards 2019, Wells Cathedral
2021 Chippenham Museum, Spotlight On: Modern & Contemporary Art
from the Collection of Chippenham Museum
"White City" 2007 Oil on canvas 18 x 28 ins.
Selected Bibliography
Morag Ballard: Constructions, Reliefs and Works on paper, exhibition catalogue
texts by Sister Wendy Beckett and Morag Ballard. England & Co. London 1991
St.Ives Follower Goes Solo, Antique Trade Gazette, 21 September 1991
Morag Ballard, Exhibition review by Sister Wendy Beckett, Arts Review, "20 September 1991
Morag Ballard: Constructions, Reliefs, Paintings, exhibition catalogue
texts by Peter Davies and Morag Ballard. England & Co. London 1993
St. Ives Revisited ; Innovators and Followers, Peter Davies, The Old Bakehouse Publications 1994
Morag Ballard: Recent Works, exhibition catalogue, texts by Morag Ballard and Peter Davies, England & Co.
London 2001
Morag Ballard: Recent Work, exhibition catalogue, introduction by Jane England. England & Co. London 2003
Morag Ballard: Recent Work, exhibition catalogue, introduction by Jane England. England & Co. London 2005
St. Ives 1975-2005 Art Colony in Transition, Peter Davies, St. Ives Printing & Publishing Co. 2007
Morag Ballard: Recent Paintings, exhibition catalogue, introduction by Jane England, England & Co.
London 2008
June Portfolio: Morag Ballard, Artists & Illustrators Magazine, issue 261, June 2008
Interviews-Artists Volume Two, Recordings 2010, N.P. James, CV Publications 2010
The Discerning Eye, by Liz Anderson, The Spectator, 16 November 2013
Morag Ballard at Lemon Street Gallery, by Helen Hoyle, Women Artists in Cornwall,
www.cornishmuse.blogspot.com, Feb 2014
Kit Kemp: the style secrets of a famous hotelier and interior designer,
Evening Standard Homes & Property, 24 March 2016
"Foyer" 2007 Oil on canvas 12 x 18 ins .