Exhibitions, News
Exhibition: Sara Lee – Chalk Lines – Drawings from the South Downs
EXHIBITION
Sara Lee – Chalk Lines
Drawings from the South Downs
From ancient paths Sara Lee take us towards the changing light on the horizon. As an artist she immerses herself in long walks and working from the land. This series of pastel drawings was made in response to Sara Lee walking 100 miles of the South Downs Way in Sussex. Alongside the drawings there will be the artists’ field notes and sketchbooks and a specially commissioned film. Lee evokes aesthetic movements of the past, with considerations of ‘Romanticism’ and ‘The Sublime’ and considers their contemporary relevance. Rabley Gallery is bringing this awarded solo exhibition on tour from Petersfield Museum and Gallery to 155A in London.
CATALOGUE
A softback 44-page fully illustrated colour catalogue is available. The book is published by Petersfield Museum (2026) with texts by Louise Weller, Curator, Petersfield Museum and Gallery, Sara Lee and Meryl Ainslie, Director of Rabley Gallery. 170 x 240mm / £12 inc. P&P (UK).
EVENT: Sara Lee Artist’s Talk
EVENT: Gathering with the Artist
Saturday 25th April, 4pm – 6pm
155A Lordship Lane, East Dulwich London SE22 8HX
All welcome, no need to book.
PUBLIC OPENING HOURS
24 April – 3 May
Thursday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm
Sunday, 11am – 3pm
FREE ENTRY
PRIVATE VIEW
Thursday 23 April 2026 (6–8pm)
LOCATION
155A Lordship Lane, East Dulwich London SE22 8HX
Parking is available in surrounding residential streets.
Nearest station: North Dulwich, East Dulwich, Denmark Hill.
Buses: 176, 185, 40, P13
View on Google Maps
ENQUIRIES
Meryl Ainslie, Rabley Gallery
[email protected]
+44(07967545136
More information…
For Sara Lee creating her pastels and prints involves long walks in landscape and working from the land. These are not journeys to be conquered and documented, they are space and time inhabited – being in the environment. Lee holds us, suspended within the time spent, the landscape encountered, the walk made and her thoughts considered. She evokes aesthetic movements of the past, with considerations of ‘Romanticism’ and ‘The Sublime’ and their contemporary relevance.
Each journey is followed be an extended period of making in her London studio, predominantly in pastel drawing and printmaking. The subtlety of her pastel drawings is perfectly echoed by the graphically stripped back Japanese woodcut technique in the Ukiyo–e tradition that she favours.
Far from being overwhelmed by the power of nature, Lee invites the viewer to pause and contemplate the importance of landscape and our profound relationship with it. This is especially apposite at this time of ominous environmental change. Often working with changing or dramatic light: at dawn, dusk or with an approaching storm, the long distance is a constant thread and compelling focus.
In collaboration with Rabley Gallery, our relationship began with a year-long residency in the Wiltshire Downs on the Ainslie family farm associated with the gallery (2013). She would visit each month for a few days working with a landscape similar in geology to the beautiful South Downs. This was followed by her solo exhibition ‘Ley of the Land’ (2014)
Numerous residencies have informed the development of her work including those in Venice (2015), and Alayrac, France (2017). Investigating numerous coastal pathways has led to her extensive series Beckoning Lines and the exhibition To the Edge of Evening (2024). It is one of this recent series that was awarded the South Downs Art Prize and initiated this exhibition in Petersfield Museum’s contemporary gallery.
Her work is held in public and private collections internationally, including the Victoria & Albert Museum; Pallant House Gallery; Swindon Museum and Gallery; Victoria Art Gallery, Bath; Otter Gallery; University of Chichester Collection, UK; United Therapeutics Art Collection, USA; Tama University Collection, Tokyo, Japan.
