TURNER’S HOUSE PRESENTS
Light is Therefore Colour
Eileen Cooper RA and Sinta Tantra respond to Turner’s home in a contemporary exhibition of new work
4 June – 26 October 2025 | Turner’s House, Twickenham
Part of Turner 250: Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of J.M.W. Turner’s Birth
To mark this milestone year, Turner’s House unveils a bold new exhibition that reimagines the artist’s private world through a contemporary lens.
Light is Therefore Colour brings together Eileen Cooper RA and acclaimed artist Sinta Tantra in an artistic dialogue with Turner’s Twickenham retreat, responding with site-specific work that eplores memory, presence, and transformation. Complementing Turner’s Kingdom: Beauty, Birds and Beasts, also on view during this anniversary year, the show explores Turner’s legacy through con temporary responses to the house he designed and built as a personal retreat.
Curated in partnership with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, the exhibition invites both artists to engage deeply with Sandycombe Lodge through painting, installation, and architectural intervention. Their work reimagines the domestic space Turner once inhabited, offering new ways of seeing his legacy through the lens of contemporary art.
FOR PRESS ENQUIRIES: Hedvig Liestøl: hedvig@kristinhjellegjerde.com
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Eileen Cooper RA, known for her emotionally resonant, symbolist paintings, responds to Sandycombe Lodge as a space historically shaped by male presence and creative solitude. Her work introduces a powerful, intuitive energy into the house — reimagining its interiors through a lens of femininity, imagination, and myth. Figures emerge in twilight gardens; deer and symbolic forms populate dreamlike scenes that echo and soften the architecture. A glowing silhouette ascending the spiral staircase suggests quiet metamorphosis — an inward, poetic response to the house and its layered history.
Sinta Tantra, internationally recognised for her vivid geometric ab straction, approaches Sandycombe Lodge through light, architecture, and spatial storytelling. Drawing on Turner’s friendship with Sir John Soane—whose design principles influenced the house—Tantra ex plores celestial forms, gilded surfaces, and bold colour as ways to echo Turner’s fascination with optics and transformation. Her work responds to the building as both structure and symbol, using surface, scale, and abstraction to reimagine its atmosphere. In doing so, she brings a renewed sense of vitality to the space, positioning it as a site where historical legacy meets contemporary imagination.
Together, Cooper and Tantra transform Turner’s House into a site of presence and imagination — creating bold new ways of seeing the painter’s legacy in his own home.
“It’s rare to enter an artist’s home and feel so much creative presence still there. I’ve tried to listen to the house, to Turner, and to its many memories — and respond with a painter’s sense of wonder.” — Eileen Cooper RA
“This house holds both light and memory — my work aims to create a conversation with its architecture, using abstraction and surface to reflect Turner’s spirit.” — Sinta Tantra
“We are delighted to celebrate Turner 250 with this special exhibition. Cooper and Tantra bring imagination, resonance, and striking sensitivity to the site — connecting past and present in meaningful ways.” — Jennifer Francis, Director, Turner’s House
ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
Eileen Cooper RA (b. 1953, Derbyshire) studied at Goldsmiths and the Royal College of Art. She was elected a Royal Acad emician in 2001 and served as Keeper of the Royal Academy from 2010–2017—the first woman in the Academy’s history to hold the post. Her work is held in major public collections in cluding Tate, the British Museum, and the Arts Council Collection.
Sinta Tantra (b. 1979, New York) is a British artist of Balinese heritage. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art and the Royal Academy Schools, graduating in 2006. Known for large scale public artworks and site-specific installations, her work is held in collections including the Government Art Collection (UK), Museum MACAN (Indonesia), and the Louis Vuitton Collection.
J.M.W. TURNER AND THE ROYAL ACADEMY
J.M.W. Turner had a lifelong and distinguished relationship with the Royal Academy. He enrolled at the Royal Academy Schools in 1789 at the age of 14, exhibited at the Summer Exhibition from the age of 15, and was elected an Associate Royal Academician (ARA) in 1799, becoming a full Royal Academician (RA) in 1802. In 1807, he was appointed Professor of Perspective, a role he held until 1837. In 1850, the final year of his life, Turner also served briefly as Acting President of the Royal Academy, underlining his lasting influence on the institution and its artistic legacy.
About Turner’s House
Turner’s House at Sandycombe Lodge was designed by J.M.W. Turner as a country retreat from London. Following a major conservation project supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the house reopened in 2017 and now offers the public insight into Turner’s architectural and personal life.
PRESS PREVIEW, ARTIST WALKTHROUGH & DRINKS RECEPTION
Wednesday 4 June, 6:30 pm
To attend, RSVP to Hedvig Liestøl: hedvig@kristinhjellegjerde.com
High-res images, installation views, and artist portraits available upon request. Captions and image credits will be supplied.
VISITOR INFORMATION
Turner’s House Museum
Sandycombe Lodge, 40 Sandycoombe Road, Twickenham, TW1 2LR Open: Wednesday–Sunday, 12pm–4pm
Admission: Standard museum entry applies
Website: www.turnershouse.org
Travel: 10 minutes’ walk from St Margarets station (SW Trains). On-street parking is limited.
Accessibility: Turner’s House is a small historic building with limited step-free access. Please visit our website or contact us directly for access information.
LISTING SUMMARY
Light is Therefore Colour
4 June – 26 October 2025
Turner’s House, Twickenham
A contemporary exhibition of new work by Eileen Cooper RA and Sinta Tantra, responding to J.M.W. Turner’s historic home. Part of Turner 250. Curated in partnership with Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery.
Press Contact:
Hedvig Liestøl: hedvig@kristinhjellegjerde.com
High-res images and artist bios available on request.
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