Shani Rhys James MBE RCA b.1953

Shani Rhys James is arguably the most exciting and successful Welsh painter of her generation. Her considerable reputation, both in Wales and beyond, continues to grow apace. She has exhibited with Martin Tinney Gallery since 1993 and subsequently her work has appeared in exhibitions throughout Britain and mainland Europe. William Packer, the distinguished art critic, has spoken of her as a painter of remarkable power, whose paintings are as convincing as anything currently being produced in Britain.

She has been feted with prizes and honours: from the UK's most prestigious and valuable prize for painting, the Jerwood Prize in 2003, to the Gold Medal for Fine Art in the 1992 Royal National Eisteddfod; from the '2003 Welsh Woman in Culture Award' to being awarded an MBE in 2006. 

Her body of collectors, both private and public, continues to expand both in the UK, but especially abroad, with sales to important private collections in the USA, Belgium, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Hong Kong.

Prizes & Awards

Honorary Fellowship, Glyndwr University; Honorary Fellowship, Hereford College of Art;Honorary Fellowship, University of Wales Institute Cardiff; Glyndwr Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Arts in Wales; Creative Wales Award, Arts Council of Wales; Awarded MBE; Winner of the Jerwood Painting Prize; Woman of Culture, Welsh Women of the Year Awards; Elected member of 56 Group Wales; Elected member of Royal Cambrian Academy; Prize Winner, BP National Portrait Award; Winner of the BBC Wales Visual Art Award 1994; First Prize, Hunting/Observer Art Prizes; Welsh Arts Council Travel Award; Gold Medal for Fine Art, Royal National Eisteddfod; First Prize, Mostyn Open, Oriel Mostyn, Llandudno; Second Prize, Wales Open, Aberystwyth Arts Centre; First Prize, Wales Open, Aberystwyth Arts Centre; Welsh Arts Council Grant

Collections

National Museum Wales, Cardiff; Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow; Newport Museum and Art Gallery; Glynn Vivian Museum & Art Gallery, Swansea; Birmingham City Art Gallery; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth; Usher Gallery, Lincoln; Museum of Modern Art Wales, Machynlleth; Contemporary Art Society of Wales; Arts Council of England; New Hall College, Cambridge; Jerwood Foundation; London Borough of Tower Hamlets; BBC Wales; Private Collections worldwide.