Alice Instone facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alice Instone
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Instone in 2016
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Alice Instone (born June 4, 1975) is an English artist. She is famous for creating art about gender, personal stories, and the things that connect all of us. She often works with famous people to create her art.
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Early Life and Education
Alice Instone was born in 1975 and grew up in East Sussex, England. She studied English at King's College London and art history at The Courtauld Institute of Art. Before becoming a full-time artist in 2005, she worked as an English teacher and in advertising.
What is Alice Instone's Art About?
Instone's art explores feelings and experiences that many people share. She looks at things like our to-do lists, our favorite shoes, or memories of our grandmothers. Her work helps us understand ourselves and our shared human experiences.
Many of her art shows are interactive, meaning visitors can become part of the art. For example, people added their own to-do lists to one of her projects. In another, visitors used a special deck of cards to get advice from "The Grandmother." She uses art to help people share their own stories.
Instone often shows her art in unusual places. She has had exhibitions in the Houses of Parliament, on the banks of the River Thames, and even in a building with a difficult past. She has worked with major organizations like the United Nations, Chanel, and Oxfam.
She has also collaborated with many well-known people. These include musicians like Annie Lennox and Beverley Knight, actresses like Helen McCrory and Emilia Fox, and model Elle Macpherson. She has also worked with artists like Sir Peter Blake and designers like Alice Temperley.
Major Art Exhibitions
21 21st Century Women, 2008
Instone's first solo show featured paintings of 21 powerful modern women. She was inspired by the many portraits of powerful men she saw in the National Portrait Gallery. She noticed there were very few portraits of powerful women.
The paintings aimed to show women as strong and influential leaders. Sitters included singer Annie Lennox, lawyer Cherie Blair, and writer Dame Jacqueline Wilson.
A writer for The Telegraph newspaper said:
"They are among the most well-known women in Britain but the chances are that you have never seen them like this before..... Alice Instone's (work) challenges the way women are traditionally portrayed."
The art was shown at the House of Commons and other important locations.
Interview with a Shoe, 2009
For this exhibition, Instone painted portraits of people through their favorite shoes. She found that shoes can be very emotional and reveal a lot about their owners.
Many shoes had special stories. For example, she painted the shoes Annie Lennox wore to a famous wedding. The exhibition included shoes from model Elle Macpherson, artist Sir Peter Blake, and tennis player Pat Cash.
The exhibition was shown at the Northampton Museum, which has the world's largest shoe collection. Elle Macpherson said:
"We all have a favourite pair of shoes and they often reveal something about us without us even realising... Alice has a talent for capturing something quite functional to evoke its charm and make an emotional connection."
The House of Fallen Women, 2010
This art series was shown in a historic London house that was once a home for women in need. The paintings showed famous women from history who were often judged harshly by society.
Instone used modern famous women to pose as these historical figures. For example, actress Emilia Fox posed as Marie Antoinette. The show explored how women have been viewed throughout history.
The exhibition also included a series of prints called ... Spiral, which were shown in a nearby building.
India Knight wrote in The Evening Standard:
"The women in these paintings paid the highest prices for their “transgressions”. We don't have to, and the very least we can do is raise a glass to them in all their bad, wild, brave, magnificent glory."
Because a Fire Was In My Head, 2012
This show explored the role of the "muse" in art history. A muse is a person who inspires an artist. The paintings were bold and aimed to show the power of creating art.
One painting of a breastfeeding mother received praise from Baroness Helena Kennedy, a famous lawyer. She said it captured a beautiful and natural part of life that people are often shy to talk about. The work was shown at a gallery in London.
She Should Have Known Better, 2013
This exhibition was held in the former home of the writer Henry James. Instone was inspired by the female characters in his books. The art was about women who broke society's rules.
The subjects included both historical figures and modern women. For example, actress Helen McCrory posed as Lilith, who in some stories was Adam's first wife before Eve. The show compared how women were treated in the past to how they are sometimes treated in the media today.
The Pram in the Hall, 2016
After having children, Instone felt overwhelmed by her to-do lists. This inspired her to collect the lists of other well-known women, like Cherie Blair and Shami Chakrabarti.
She displayed these lists for everyone to see. She also invited the public to add their own lists to a giant installation. The project showed a real, unfiltered side of people's lives, unlike the perfect images often seen on social media.
Playing Cards with My Grandmother, 2018
For this project, Instone created a magical art caravan that traveled around London. The project's message was that "what we share is more powerful than what divides us."
Instone created a special deck of cards based on stories from around the world. Visitors could enter the caravan, play a card game, and receive grandmotherly advice. They were also invited to write down memories of their own grandmothers in a special book.
Instone in Hollywood
In 2015, Instone became the artist in residence at the famous Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. Her project there, called Tell Me Everything You Saw And What You Think It Means, was released with a book in 2019.
Personal Life
Instone married Hugh Billett in 2002. They have a daughter, born in 2008, and a son, born in 2011. Her brother is the businessman Sam Instone.
