The family of Julia Davenne (1968 2024) have announced a five-day exhibition, to honour and celebrate Julia’s life, talent and enduring creative spirit.
In 2023, Julia was tragically diagnosed with the rare and incurable Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) and died, four months later, aged fifty-five. All net proceeds from the exhibition will support CJD research, in the hope that her legacy will make a meaningful difference.
Julia’s extraordinary artistic journey was created over more than three decades. The cherished pieces reveal influences that shaped her work, across the many chapters of her life. Through her art, we discover her loves, her passions, her originality and her dedication to her craft. She was wildly imaginative, while still executing her work with remarkable precision.
Julia studied at St Martin’s School of Art and The Royal Academy of Arts, where she also frequently exhibited, before winning a scholarship to attend The Art Academy in Trondheim, Norway. Over this time, Julia developed her distinctive, award-winning practice in Tromsø, in the north.
After returning to the UK, following many years in Norway, she spent three years teaching art at Chelsea College of Art, before settling in Abergavenny in 2020, close to the Brecon Beacons. The surrounding landscapes provided fresh inspiration, and she continued to paint and exhibit during this period, until her fatal diagnosis.
The exhibition consists of carefully selected pieces from Julia’s career, spanning her most influential periods and artistic explorations.
Oxo Tower Gallery, Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House St, London, SE1 9PH from 22nd – 26th April.
10am – 6pm (Saturday 9am – 5pm)
