BIOGRAPHY
Curtis Holder (b. 1968, Leicester, UK) is a London-based contemporary artist whose drawing practice is shaped by an enduring interest in people. Working primarily in graphite and coloured pencil, he creates large-scale portraits and figurative works that emerge through close observation and conversation, allowing relationships with those he draws to develop through the process of drawing. His subjects are chosen through curiosity rather than category, often focusing on individuals whose lives and creative practices invite closer attention. Through these encounters, his work reflects on human connection, with each drawing becoming a record of shared experience, built through thousands of accumulated marks that trace both presence and the passage of time.
His work is held in the collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, the MCC Museum at Lord's Cricket Ground and Soho House.
Institutional collaborations include an 18-month residency with Leeds Art Gallery and the UAL Decolonising Arts Institute, culminating in Silent Echoes, Spoken Truths (2024–25); a commission from Pallant House Gallery for Seeing Each Other: Portraits of Artists (2025); a commission from the National Portrait Gallery and Terrence Higgins Trust to create a posthumous portrait of Terry Higgins (2023); and his appointment as the National Theatre's first Artist-in-Residence in 2022, where he created The Makers: Portraits from Backstage.
Holder's solo exhibitions include Portraits of Brotherhood at the RBSA Gallery, Birmingham (2025) and Guildford House Gallery (2024); Silent Echoes, Spoken Truths at Leeds Art Gallery (2024–25); Curtis Holder: Drawing Carlos Acosta at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (2024–25); The Makers: Portraits from Backstage at the National Theatre (2023); and Something Unspoken at 45 Park Lane, Dorchester Collection, London (2021–22).
Selected group exhibitions include Drawing Room (2026), Pallant House Gallery (2025), Saatchi Gallery (2025) and the National Portrait Gallery (2023).
Holder was awarded the John Ruskin Prize in 2024 and won Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020. In 2025, he was awarded a residency at Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, New York.
He is a member of Contemporary British Portrait Painters, the Society of Graphic Fine Art and the Pastel Society, and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has also served as a selector for major national and international art competitions. Beyond the studio, Holder regularly works with museums, galleries and cultural organisations to engage audiences through talks, workshops and public programmes.
Video: 20/20 Residency at Leeds Art Gallery, UK
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