Last updated: 26 October 2026
Olivia Sterling is the London painter whose loud, comic scenes of food and hands look at race, class and gender. Here you will find our take on her work, her free solo show at Charleston, and the etchings you can buy from £480.
Our take on Olivia Sterling
Sterling paints crowded, messy scenes where food and people get mixed up. “My work is often about food, relating food and people together, commenting on the different ways people are seen as consumable,” she told Time Out in 2023.
The jokes are deliberate. “It is also about comedy, how fundamentally comedy is about normal things turned odd or odd things turned normal,” she said in the same interview. She names Francis Bacon and Philip Guston as painters she returns to, and her 2026 Norwich show, PITY THE MEAT!, was staged in dialogue with Bacon.
Her Charleston show, Cold Spell, is free and runs until March 2027. If you want to own one, Soho Revue has two of her etchings in small editions.
Olivia Sterling: the essentials
- Born in Peterborough in 1996; lives in London, according to Meyer Riegger.
- Studied Fine Art at the University of Derby (2015 to 2018) and Painting at the Royal College of Art (MA, 2018 to 2020).
- Paints mainly in acrylic on canvas or board, and makes etchings in small editions.
- Represented by Meyer Riegger (Berlin, Karlsruhe and Basel), with earlier solo shows at Guts Gallery in London.
- The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool acquired her painting Lincolnshire Sausages (2023).
- Shortlisted for the 2026 David and Yuko Juda Art Foundation Grant, shown at Annely Juda Fine Art in September 2026.
Olivia Sterling exhibitions
- On now: Cold Spell, Charleston in Firle, East Sussex, 19 September 2026 to 7 March 2027. New paintings, drawings and prints responding to Quentin Bell’s interest in magic and the occult. Free; Wednesday to Sunday and bank holiday Mondays, 10am to 5pm.
- Juda Foundation Grant shortlist show, Annely Juda Fine Art, London, 10 to 19 September 2026.
- PITY THE MEAT!, East Gallery, Norwich University of the Arts, 27 February to 18 April 2026.
- Discord & Harmony (group), KARST, Plymouth, 24 January to 18 April 2026.
Where to buy an Olivia Sterling print
Her paintings are sold through Meyer Riegger on request. These etchings are on sale in London:
- Cream Pies for Everyone, 2026, £480: etching with hand finishes, 21.5 x 30 cm (8.5 x 11.8 in), edition of 10, from Soho Revue. Two were in stock when we checked.
- That Sweetness Turns To Loathsomeness, 2024, £600: softground etching and aquatint, 41 x 54 cm (16.1 x 21.3 in) paper, edition of 10, from Soho Revue. Two were in stock when we checked.
Olivia Sterling FAQs
Where can I see Olivia Sterling’s work?
At Charleston in Firle, East Sussex, where Cold Spell runs until 7 March 2027. Entry is free.
Can I buy an Olivia Sterling print?
Yes. Soho Revue sells two of her etchings, in editions of 10, at £480 and £600.
Which gallery represents Olivia Sterling?
Meyer Riegger, which has spaces in Berlin, Karlsruhe and Basel.
What is Olivia Sterling’s work about?
Food, comedy and the ways people are treated as consumable, with race, class and gender running through the scenes.
More from CoolCuration
- Freelands Painting Prize review: more young painters to watch.
- Cecily Brown at the Serpentine review: another painter with a loose, crowded surface.
- Best affordable art in the UK: where to start collecting prints and editions.
- Gifts for artists: our edit of presents for people who make things.
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Main image: Olivia Sterling, 2023. Photo: Jess Hand for Time Out. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates and prices last checked: 26 October 2026.
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