BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Born in eMalahleni (Witbank), South Africa, 1983
Lives and works in London

Richard McVetis studied at Manchester School of Art and the Royal College of Art, where he is currently a Tutor in the Textiles programme . He has been shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize (2023), Jerwood Drawing Prize (2011, 2017), and Loewe Craft Prize (2018). His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including Threads at Arnolfini (2023), the British Textile Biennial (2021), RENEW at Kettle’s Yard (2019), the Loewe Craft Prize at the Design Museum (2018), and Form + Motion with the British Council in South Korea (2017). In 2022, he held a solo show at the Craft Study Centre, Farnham.

EDUCATION

MA Constructed Textiles | The Royal College of Art | 2008

BA (HONS) Embroidery | Manchester Metropolitan University | 2006

Foundation Diploma in Art & Design | Stafford College | 2001

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2022

Shaped by Time - Crafts Study Centre - Farnham - UK

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025

Collect 2025 - Cavaliero Finn - Somerset House - London - UK

Lions & Unicorns - White Conduit Projects - Curated by Lol Sargent - London, UK

2024

Make Hauser & With - London, UK

20 Years - Cavaliero Finn - London, UK

On Tenderness & Time - Curated by Jenn Ellis, presented by Xenia - London, UK

Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize - Bournemouth, Plymouth, and Wigan, UK

Inspired - Ruup & Form - Collect International Art Fair - London, UK

2023

Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize - London, UK

Threads: 'Breathing stories into materials' - Arnolfini - Bristol, UK

House Guests - David Parr House - Cambridge

Elemental Lines - Cavaliero Finn - Ballroom Arts - Aldeburgh, UK

In Quest for Harmony - Ruup & Form - Collect International Art Fair - London, UK

Into the Night - Cavaliero Finn - London Art Fair - UK

2022

Sixty Drawings + Ten - The Whitaker - Manchester - UK

Conversations - The 62 Group - St Barbes Museum & Art Gallery - Lymington - UK

Essence - The 62 Group - London & Harrogate - UK

2021

Definitions of Drawing - Sunny Bank Mills - Leeds UK

Connected Cloth - The British Textile Biennial - The Whitaker - UK

Monochrome - Ruthin Craft Centre - Wales - UK

2020

Of Time and Place - Living Object - London - UK

25 Years - Danielle Arnaud Gallery - London - UK

Ten - Unit Twelve - Stafford, UK.

2019

RE-NEW - Kettles Yard - Cambridge, UK

David Gates: In Dialogue - Make Hauser & Wirth - Somerset, UK

COS - Series IV - Coal Drops Yard - London, UK

Construct - The 62 Group - Sunny Bank Mills - Leeds, UK

The Future of Craft - London, UK

Crafting New Perspectives - Culturesphere - Gmund Büttenpapierfabrik - Germany

Future Icons - London Art Fair - UK.

Retail Space - Seventeen Galley - London, UK.

2018

Loewe Craft Prize - The Design Museum - London, UK.

Stitch - Daniel Raphael - London, UK.

Is It Useful? - Unit Twelve - Stafford, UK.

Monochrome - Bluecoat Display Centre - Liverpool, UK.

5x10 - Rolfe Judd Architects - London, UK.

The Uppermost Layer - Jaggedart - London, UK

2017

Craft Forms - Wayne Art Center - USA.

Make_Shift - Collyer Bristow Gallery - London, UK.

Form + Motion - UK Pavilion - British Council & Crafts Council - Cheongju International Craft Biennale - South Korea

Drawing Open - No Format Gallery - London, UK.

Real to Reel: The Craft Film Festival - Crafts Council - Picture House Central - London, UK.

Collect: The International Art Fair for Contemporary Objects - Crafts Council - Saatchi Gallery - London, UK.

Jerwood Drawing Prize - Turnpike Art Centre - Leigh & The Gallery - Poole, UK.

The Thread Unraveled - V.M. Gallery - Karachi, Pakistan.

2016

White Show - Clotsworthy House Art Centre - Northern Ireland.

Jerwood Drawing Prize - Jerwood Space - London, UK.

Making Space - The 62 Group of Textile Artists - Macclesfield, UK.

Hand / Work - Bílskúrsgallerý - Icelandic Textile Center - Blönduós, Iceland.

Excellence in Fibre - USA

2015

Craft Forms - Wayne Art Center - USA.

Cheongju International Craft Biennale - South Korea.

White Show - Flow Gallery - London, UK.

Craft Forms - Wayne Art Center - USA.

2014

Microtopia - Kingsgate Gallery - London, UK.

The Geometrics - Slow Textiles Group Show - Textiles Hub London, UK.

2011

Jerwood Drawing Prize - Jerwood Space - London, UK

2007

Mixtacity - Nigel Coates - Tate Modern - London, UK

AWARDS

a-n Bursary - January 2025

Resident Artist - Make Hauser & Wirth - Braemar, Scotland - Spring 2024

Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize - Finalist - 2023

Evelyn Williams Drawing Award - Short Listed Artist - 2023

Cockpit Textile Prize - 2023

Resident Artist - Xenia Creative Retreat - Hampshire, UK - 2023

The Cockpit Arts / Newby Trust Craft Excellence Awards 2019

Loewe Craft Prize - Finalist - 2018

Arts Council England

Collect Open - Crafts Council - Selected Artist - 2017

Jerwood Drawing Prize - Finalist - 2016

West Dean Tapestry Commission - Long listed Artist - 2016

Resident Artist - Textilsetur Islands - Blonduos - Iceland 2016

Cheongju International Craft Competition - Finalist - 2015

Jurors Award - Craft Forms - Wayne Art Center - 2015

Jerwood Drawing Prize - Finalist - 2011

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Huddersfield Art Gallery - Acquired through the Contemporary Art Society - Omega Fund - January 2022

TALKS

In Pursuit of Luxury - Honest Luxury - Ravensbourne University, UK - June 2025

LOEWE Foundation - Artist talk and Panel discussion - Somerset House, London, UK - February -2025

Timescapes: Perspectives on Process - Lecture - Tatter, USA - 2025

Textile + Place Conference - Talk and panel discussion - Manchester Metropolitan University, UK - 2023

Unravelling Threads - Panel discussion with curators Gemma Brace & Alice Kettle - Arnolfini, Bristol - 2023

Sew Inclusive: Male & Non Binary Artists in Conversation - Woven Textile Festival - Huddersfield, UK - 2023

Radical Acts Symposium - Panel discussion with Natalie Melton - Harewood House - July 2022

Material Lives - Artefact - Panel discussion with Grant Gibson - London - 2022

Definitions of Drawing - Panel discussion with curator Courtney Spencer - Leeds - October - 2021

The Potential of Stitch - The Textile Society - October 2021

The Skill of Narrative & Stitched Textiles - Key note - Fashion & Textiles Museum - London - Jan 2021

Possibilities of Fibre Art - Organised by Tai Ping & chaired by Grant Gibson - London - March 2020

Textile Artists in Conversation - Raystitch - London - May 2019

Crafts Council - Home and Abroad - Panel discussion - Collect - Saatchi Gallery - London - Jan 2017

Inspiring the Future - Various Locations - March 2016 to present

LISTEN

In Pursuit of Luxury - November 2024

Unravelling Threads - Panel discussion with curators Gemma Brace & Alice Kettle - Arnolfini, Bristol - 2023

Material Matters with Grant Gibson - May 2022

Making Meaning - Ruth Singer Podcast - July 2021

Pursuit of Beauty, In Stitches - Presented by Amber Butchart - BBC Radio 4 - November 2018

Rial Talk - Materials Podcast by Anna Ploszajski - August 2018

PUBLICATIONS

Record, Map and Capture in Textile Art - Batsford - 2022

Textile Travels - Batsford - October 2020

Thread Contemporary Embroidered Art - Thames & Hudson - November 2019

De Fil en Aiguille - Embroidery Art - Publication by Pyramyd Editions - November 2018