Super Saturday: In Conversation: Jyll Bradley and Gemma Rolls-Bentley

This 'In conversation' event is a unique opportunity to find out more about key works and sources of inspiration within the exhibition, notably including the early self-portraits taken by Bradley in 1987. These images of Bradley dressed as Orlando, the gender and time shifting figure of Virginia Woolf’s novel of the same name, examine what it was to be a young queer woman, balancing the desire to be seen with the instinct to hide away.

Jyll Bradley is one of the leading artists of her generation, has been creating captivating work for almost four decades. Her pioneering approach and creativity includes drawing, photography, sculpture, film, writing and large-scale public artworks. Bradley’s work is underpinned by a strong sense of spirituality and optimism. It is this, together with her personal history and identity, that drives much of her practice. She studied Fine Art at Goldsmiths’ College, London (1985-88) and Slade School of Art, London (1991-93). In her early works she used photographic lightboxes, which could be found in street advertising, as an artistic medium, and was one of the first artists (if not the first) in the UK to do so.

A survey exhibition of Bradley’s work, Running and Returning, is presented in St Luke’s and spaces in The Box’s main building. In Active Archives, the artist’s adoptive family connections to Plymouth and the South West are a catalyst for exploring some of her creative influences.

Gemma Rolls-Bentley has been at the forefront of contemporary art for almost two decades, working passionately to champion diversity in the field. Her debut book Queer Art; From Canvas to Club and the Spaces Between is a Lambda Literary Award finalist and has been highlighted as a must-read by Them, Dazed, Timeout, The Guardian, Cultured and the FT. Her curatorial practice amplifies the work of female and queer artists and provides a platform for art that explores LGBTQIA+ identity. Gemma has curated for a range of international galleries and institutions. Current exhibitions include Sea State at Wolterton, Norfolk (on until 7th December 2025) and She Sells Seashells at the Alice Austen House, NY (on until 21st February 2026). Gemma has taught at numerous institutions including the Royal College of Art, the Glasgow School of Art, and Goldsmiths, and is a juror for the 2025 John Moore’s Painting Prize. She sits on the Courtauld Association Committee and the Leslie Lohman Museum Acquisitions Committee.