Tinsel Edwards is a London based artist and co-founder of A-side B-side Gallery in Hackney Downs. Born in 1979 in Leamington Spa, Tinsel graduated from Goldsmiths College in 2001 (Fine Art BA).
Driven by a romantic notion that art can change the world, Tinsel’s work comments on a wide variety of contemporary social and political issues. Predominantly working with oil on canvas, her paintings offer biting social commentary entwined with an honest and autobiographical narrative.
Since graduating she has exhibited widely across the UK and beyond, solo and duo shows include Galerie Michaela Stock in Vienna, Big Deal No.5 during Frieze week, The Pure Evil Gallery in London, Steal from Work in Bristol, and Artport in Berlin. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in the USA, Austria, Germany and Poland. In 2006 Banksy bought one of Tinsel’s paintings, and following this he invited her to exhibit at the infamous Santas Ghetto on Oxford Street.
Tinsel recently collaborated with Jealous Gallery to produce three limited edition screenprints. She also worked with art fashion label Maison Twenty to create a T-shirt design based on the piece which she made for Jealous Gallery, it is now on sale in outlets such as Harrods, Browns Fashion Store and Harvey Nicols.
Tinsel often collaborates with art partner in crime and childhood friend, Twinkle Troughton. They stage public art stunts such as kidnapping a banker, creating The Bank of Tinsel & Twinkle, and posing as traffic wardens to give away free art. Regulars at the annual Art Car Boot Fair in London, they also curate and exhibit together.
She has also collaborated with brands such as Absolut vodka, VANS and TOMS. Her work is in private collections in the UK and Europe, collectors include a Korean pop star, Banksy and Bill Woodrow.
Courtesy of the artist’s website.