Fiona Crisp is an artist known for creating installations of large-scale photographs that question the ontological presence of the photographic image. 

Her works are often generated by spending periods of time in specific locations, past projects having involved working in the Early Christian catacombs of Rome and a Second World War underground military hospital in the Channel Islands. What unites these apparently disparate sites is that, contrary to their historic purpose that allowed access to a defined group of users, they have now been opened up as tourist sites where the boundaries between heritage, leisure and historical truth become blurred.

Crisp completed a postgraduate degree at The Slade School of Fine Art, London in 1993 has exhibited both nationally and internationally, spending time working in Norway and in Rome where she held a Wingate Scholarship at The British School.   In 1999/2000 she spent a period of time working in the North East of England whilst on the Berwick Gymnasium Fellowship and in 2003, after many years based in London, Crisp moved to Northumberland with her partner and children.

In 2006 Crisp undertook a residency based at the 18th Century landscape gardens at Stourhead, jointly commissioned by the British School at Rome and the National Trust. The residency produced images that have become key to Crisp's exploration of the 'construction' of view (in visual, political and philosophical terms) and culminated in her third exhibition for Matt's Gallery, Negative Capability: The Stourhead Cycle, in 2012.

Other significant solo exhibitions include the major touring show Subterrania that launched at BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead in July 2009 before travelling to Impressions Gallery, Bradford and Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall in April 2010.   A monograph entitled Hyper Passive surveying Crisp’s work over the preceding ten years was published to coincide with the tour by Matt’s Gallery, London; the book includes an essay by Christopher Townsend and an interview with Alessandro Vincentelli, Curator of Exhibitions and Research at BALTIC.

Crisp is currently Professor of Contemporary Art at Northumbria University where she is founder member of the research group The Cultural Negotiation of Science. Over the last decade she has been developing dialogues with fundamental scientists regarding the visualisation of concepts and data that challenge the limits of our imaginative capacity.  Her recent project Material Sight, funded by the Leverhulme Trust pursues these questions through collaboration with three world-leading research facilities for fundamental science.

Fiona Crisp’s work is represented by Matt’s Gallery, London and is held in the collections of The Tate Gallery, The Government Art Collection, The Arts Council Collection, Worcester City Art Gallery and private collections.

Still Films 1999

Installation view. Camerawork, London.

Santa Maria 2003

Installation view. Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth.

Negative Capability: The Stourhead Cycle 2012

Installation view. Matt's Gallery, London.

Solo Exhibitions

Material Sight Solo touring exhibition

Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland March - May

Arts Catalyst, London June - July

Subterrania Solo touring exhibition.

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead July-Oct 2009

Impressions Gallery, Bradford, Nov 2009-Jan 2010

Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall Feb-April 2010

Group Exhibitions

Material Sight: A Sensorium for Fundamental Physics

Artnodes, Journal on Art, Science and Technology

Published January 2020

Time, Science, Erosion, Evidence: Fiona Crisp

Trebuchet Magazine

Published May 2019

The Live Creature and Ethereal Things: Physics in Culture

Edited Fiona Crisp and Nicola Triscott Pub Arts Catalyst, London

ISBN 978-0-9927776-4-7

Negative Capability: Imaging and Imagining Fundamental Science through Productive Doubt  GeoHumanities (American Association of Geographers) Issue 1 Autumn 2015

pp.188-197

Hyper Passive  Monograph with essay & interview. Pub. Matt's Gallery June 2009 

ISBN 978-0-907623-65-6

Ruination: Photographs of Rome Wrigly, Richard.

Pub. Djanogly Art Gallery, Nottingham

ISBN 978-1-900809-51-1

The Berwick Gymnasium Fellowships an Archival Record Ed. King, Judith

Pub. English Heritage & Arts Editions North ISBN 978-0-9557478-1-6

Professor of Fine Art Northumbria University, Newcastle

(Associate Professor 2013-2016, Senior Lecturer 2004-2013)

Tate Gallery Collection, Arts Council Collection, Hayward Gallery, London,

The Government Art Collection, Worcester City Art Gallery & Private Collections.