Gillian Ayres

The Serpentine presented a substantial show of English painter Gillian Ayres’ work.

Known for her bright, colourful, dynamic abstraction, this exhibition showed work from throughout Ayres’ (b.1930) career to date, though the majority of the paintings (30 on show), were from the previous 18 months, completed after she had given up teaching and moved to North Wales to focus exclusively on her painting practice.

Works included in the exhibition were Harlyn Bay, Distillation, Break-off, Orlando Furioso, and The Maze of Daedalus.

Two years after the exhibition, Ayres was awarded the OBE, and 25 years later, in 2011, the CBE.