Bethany Stead (b. 1995, UK) lives and works in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Through drawing, painting and sculpture, Stead uses figuration and personal visual language to disrupt our fragile social fabric. Her work is concerned with the sense of discomfort of inhabiting bodies, forming a kind of psychological dissection. She examines themes of health, hierarchy, deviance, worship, garment and the posthuman, filtered through the lens of class and sexuality.
Stead graduated from Newcastle University BA Fine Art (2019) and completed the NewBridge Project Collective Studio Programme (2021). She was awarded the Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award (2025), selected for Hogchester Arts Residency (2025), and the Girlpower Residency, South West France (2025). Solo and duo exhibitions include; 'Girdle', Cubism Artspace, Shanghai, China (2025); 'Sackcloth and Ashes', 36 Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne (2025); and 'Snatch a Thread', Moving Gallery, Sunderland, (2024). Selected group exhibitions include; '[uz], [uz], [uz]', The Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery, Leeds (2025); 'The
Omnipotence of Dream', Salford Art Gallery, Greater Manchester (2025); 'Antigone Revisited', Hypha Studios HQ, London (2024); and 'ING Discerning Eye', Mall Galleries, London (2024).
Updated as of March 2026.