Hero Johnson RP is a London-based visual artist, originally from Cornwall.
Exhibitions include The BP Portrait Award, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters, The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize, The Lynn Painter-Stainers Prize, The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Competition, The New English Art Club, The Discerning Eye, Hogarth’s House ‘Small Self’, The Pastel Society, The Royal Institute of Oil Painters and The Hampstead Society of Artists.
Prizes and Awards include The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Changing Faces Commission Prize, The New English Art Club Drawing Scholarship, The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant, The Artists & Illustrators Award, the Unison Non-Member Prize at the Pastel Society and the Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers Bursary.
Notable sitters include Michael Bond CBE, Dame Harriet Walter, Sir Alan Parker CBE, Dame Lynne Brindley, Lord Puttnam, Barbara Hosking CBE and Charlotte Edwards CBE.
Collections include Lords Cricket Ground, The Royal College of Surgeons of England, The Hunterian Museum, Pembroke College University of Oxford, University College Cork,
Green Templeton College University of Oxford, The Changing Faces Collection, Cardiff University, Harris Manchester College University of Oxford, and The People’s Portrait Collection Girton College University of Cambridge.
She was elected to membership of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 2023.
The ING Discerning Eye Exhibition
The Jackson’s Painting Prize Open
The Society of Women Artists Annual Exhibition
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London
2019
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize. Trinity Buoy Wharf
The Lynn Painter Stainers Prize. The Mall Galleries, London
The Society of Women Artists. The Mall Galleries, London
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London
2018
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The Mall Galleries, London
‘Empowered by Art’. The University Women’s Club, Mayfair
The Jackson’s Painting Prize Open
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London
‘Connected’. Waterstones Gallery, Gower St, London
2017
The BP Portrait Award. National Portrait Gallery, London
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The Mall Galleries, London
The New English Art Club. The Mall Galleries, London
‘Face to Face’; BP Portrait Award Artists’ Work. Cass Art Space, Islington
‘The Art of Reading’. Cambridge Literary Festival, Cambridge
The Jackson’s Painting Prize Open
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London
2016
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The Mall Galleries, London
‘The Art of Reading’. Waterstones Gallery, Gower St, London
The Jackson’s Painting Prize Open. Finalist.
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London.
2015
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The Mall Galleries, London
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London
‘Portrayed’. Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
2014
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The Mall Galleries, London
‘The Small Self’. Hogarth’s House, Chiswick, London
The Heatherley Staff Show. Bankside Gallery, London
2013
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. ‘Self’ Prize Finalist. The Mall Galleries, London
The Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Competition. Kings Place, London
The New English Art Club. The Mall Galleries, London
‘Patrick George, a Likeness’. Browse & Darby, London
The Reed Short Film Competition. Long-listed
2012
‘Jumping Frog’. Daggett Gallery, London
2011
The Discerning Eye. The Mall Galleries, London
2010
The Lynn Painter Stainers Prize. Painter’s Hall, London
2009-10
Bust of Colin Powell for ‘The Nature of the Beast’. Whitechapel Gallery. (‘Busted’ New York High Line, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art 2013)
2008
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters. The Mall Galleries, London
2007
The Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Winsor and Newton Young Artist Award Finalist. The Mall Galleries, London
2006
The Royal Institute of Oil Painters. Winsor and Newton Young Artist Award Finalist. The Mall Galleries, London
The Society of Women Artists. The Mall Galleries, London
The Campden Hill Club. Leighton House, London
2005
‘Art Relief’. En Plo Gallery, Kato Paphos, Cyprus
Solo Shows
2005
CCA Gallery. Lemba, Cyprus
Awards and Bursaries
2022 – The Unison Non-Member Prize, The Pastel Society
2022 – The Artists and Illustrators Award, The Pastel Society
2018 – The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant
2016 – The New English Art Club Drawing Scholarship
2015 – The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Changing Faces Commission Prize
2013 – The Royal Society of Portrait Painters Bulldog Bursary Runner-up
2007 – The Worshipful Company of Painter Stainers Bursary
2004 – Cypriot Ministry of Culture Bursary
Collections
Lords Cricket Ground, MCC, Marylebone, London
The Royal College of Surgeons of England, London
The Hunterian Museum, London
Pembroke College, University of Oxford, Oxford
University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
Green Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford
The Changing Faces Collection, London
Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales
Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, Oxford
The People’s Portrait Collection, Girton College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
Publications
‘Painting the Human Figure: Ideas and Perception’ by Atul Vohora 2012
Memberships
The Royal Society of Portrait Painters – Former Membership Secretary
Former – The Contemporary British Portrait Painters – Committee Member
Honorary Member of the Chelsea Arts Club