Born (1975) in London, Stephen Walter is of English and German heritage. Currently lives and works in London.
My practice is born out of a fascination with the vast and detailed complexities of our world and the configurations that cultures construct within nature. I investigate the topography of our environment, and the semiotic and visual languages that form our understandings. Obsessive mark making and repetitive processes merge with ideas of the micro and the macrocosm, where mass and graphic density form routes towards the sublime.
My cartographic works of both real and fictional places are a tangle of words, symbols, and the gathering of information. They record the significance of place, and the physical, cultural and epistemic remnants that inhabit certain locations. They also celebrate the glory of maps and the act of exploration itself through slow art using basic materials. The joy of navigation and the recording of new places and ideas form a springboard for many of my projects, many of which require extensive research and years to produce.
Having worked predominantly on two-dimensional pieces through forms of drawing and printmaking in the past; I have recently started to utilise other mediums that extend into painting, photography, collage/montage, animation, sculpture, digital applications as well as various printmaking processes. I have been working on a large map of New York City since 2018 that is still not complete (2025). It marks a way of working that has lasted for over twenty years and on its completion, I intend to move away from this descriptive, and didactic style into a more free flowing, colourful and poetic form...
SOLO SHOWS
(* indicates publication)
2016
Stephen Walter (including the Mayfair & St James’s Map launch) – Shapero Modern, London, UK
Nova Utopia – Shapero Modern, London, UK
2013
Anthropocene - TAG Fine Arts @ LondonNewcastle Space, Shoreditch, London, UK
2009
*The Island - The Courtauld Institute, London (with TAG Fine Arts), Touring Show - including, Burgh House & Hampstead Museum, Exposure Gallery, London, UK
2008
*The Island – Launch, The Crypt, St. Pancras Church (with TAG Fine Arts), London, UK
2007
Old Master Re-Vamp - Royal Academy of Arts, Lower Sackler Wing, London, UK
2005
Be Aware of Everything - The Drawing Gallery, London, UK
2005
Chance Meetings - Vertigo Gallery, London, UK
2004
Photoworks #2 - Deutsche Bank, London Wall, UK
2003
The Vault @ Foundry, London, UK
2003
Window - Electric Palace Cinema, Hastings. (In conjunction with Shot By the Sea International Film Festival), UK
2003
Solo Show - Cru Restaurant, London, UK
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
(* indicates publication)
2023
*Wish You were Here, (Curated by TAG Fine Arts), Gallery 14, London, UK
2020
Utopias – Whitworth Gallery, Manchester, UK
*Talking Maps - Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
2019
Secret London - Museum of London, Docklands, UK
This Land Is Our Land – PAPER Gallery, Manchester, UK
Inter-section – Market Gallery, Huddersfield, UK
RA Summer Exhibition - Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Somewhere In-Between (curated by Foster Spragge), Brixton Tate Library, London, UK
2018
Borderlines - James Freeman Gallery, London, UK
Cartography - The House of Fairy Tales & Cloud Cuckoo Land Pop up, Here East, London
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London, UK
2017
The Wild Wood - James Freeman Gallery, London, UK
Torino Graphic Days - Turin, Italy
Utopia - Somerset House, London UK
RWA Secret Postcard Auction - Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK
2016
Show and Tell - (curated by DJ Simpson), Britannia Works, London
2015
*The World in a Mirror - Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerp, Belgium
The Poly-Olbion Project: The Faerie Land - Royal Geographical Society, London & The Forum, University of Exeter, UK
2014
alpha beta carta, des mots dans les cartes - Parc culturel de Rentilly, France
*RE: DEFINE 2014 - Dallas Contemporary, USA
Enclosure - Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London, UK
Unstable Ground - Paper Gallery, Manchester, UK
*The House of Fairy Tales, Cartography Portfolio - St Barnabas House. London, UK
LIVEPOOL LOVE 2 - Liverpool World Museum, Liverpool, UK
Mapping London, Thames Festival, Gallery@oxo, Oxo Tower (Daniel Crouch Rare Books). London
Blue – Chelsea Arts Club, London, UK
2013
*Final Show - Lookal01, Breda, Netherlands
The House of Fairy Tales - Sutton House. London, UK
2012
*Mind The Map - London Transport Museum, London, UK
*Writing Britain: Wastelands to Wonderlands - British Library, London, UK
LIVERPOOL LOVE - In association with Claire House - Museum of Liverpool, UK
Viewpoint - SPACESHIP, Tel Aviv, Israel
*Vis Loci - Griffin Gallery, London, UK
Polemically Small: Art in London now (curated by Zavier Ellis and Edward Lucie-Smith) - Orleans House Museum, Richmond, UK
Get Carta - Karinjanssen projectspace, London, UK
2011
Polemically Small - Torrance Art Museum, CA, USA
*The Art of Mapping - (curated by TAG Fine Arts) The Air Gallery, London, UK
Heartlands - Great Brampton House, Hereford, UK
2011-2020
Stephen Walter's Map of Liverpool - (Display ongoing), 'Hub' Space, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2010
*Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda and Art - British Library, London, UK
Selection of Tjorg Douglas Beer - The Forgotten Bar, Berlin, Germany
The Art of Giving - Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
PAPYROPHILIA - Charlie Smith Gallery, London, UK
*Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, UK
Elephant Parade London 2010 - London wide installation, UK
ALIENIMMIGRATIONSDIENST - The Forgotten Bar, Berlin, Germany
Stephen Walter's Map of Liverpool - (Display ongoing), 'Hub' Space, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, UK
2009
The Future Can Wait - (Zavier Ellis & Simon Rumley), Old Truman Brewery, London, UK
Collected Fragments - Sunderland Museum, UK
There's Something I'd Like to Tell You - IMA Village, Berlin, Germany
*West London Story - Thoughts on an Artists Book - Bradbrook House, London, UK
*Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, UK
Stephen Walter's Map of Liverpool - (Display ongoing), 'Hub' Space, Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Lay of the Land - 20-21 Visual Arts Centre, Scunthorpe, UK
2008
In Drawing - Purdy Hicks Gallery, London, UK
*Blood on Paper - Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Subterranea - Friday Late, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
The London Book of the Dead - The Crypt, St. Pancras Church, London, UK
2007
Situation 33 - Bleibtreu Gallery, Berlin, Germany
Mapping the Imagination - Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
*Drawing Breath - Touring Show, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapour - National Art School Sydney, Australia. 2008 - Royal West of England Academy, Bristol, UK - The Robert Gordon University Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland
Alles Nahe Werde Fern - Lookal01, Breda, Netherlands
Notting Heaven - Sartorial Contemporary Art, London, UK
*Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, UK
Royal Academy Printmakers - Print (vb.n) Gallery, London, UK
2006
Broken Romanticism - (curated by Stephen Walter) Standpoint Gallery, London, UK
*Drawing Breath - Wimbledon College of Art, London, UK
*Drawing Inspiration: Contemporary British Drawing - Abbot Hall Gallery, Kendal, UK
Obsession - (curated by Robin Mason), Sartorial Contemporary Art, London, UK
England Dreaming - 17 Bedford Row, London, UK
Another Product - Cornerhouse Gallery, Manchester, UK
The Sesame Salon – James Freeman Gallery, London, UK
On The Map - North House Gallery, Manningtree, UK
*Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, UK
Soft Warm Places Called Home - The Residence, London, UK
2005
*Bayennale - The LAB, San Francisco, USA
Transit Village - Jack London Square, Oakland, USA
Drawing Two Hundred - The Drawing Room, Tannery Arts, London, UK
40 Artists – 40 Drawings - The Drawing Gallery, London, UK
Salon de Freehand - Studio 6 (Rob McHaffie), Fitzroy Australia
Postcard 2005 - Filmbase, Dublin, Rep. of Ireland
Improved: The Post Card Project - (curated by Francesca Gavin), Fosterart, London, UK
Contemporary Artists Play Pictionary - The Agency, London, UK
*Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, UK
Salon - The Hollow, London, UK
Photo-Synthetic - Esmond Robinson Gallery, London, UK
Make it or Brake it - The Residence, London, UK
Minimuseum - Launch Port Eliot, Cornwall - Paul Smith, London, UK
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London, UK
Fosterart - Fosterart, London, UK
2004
*Jerwood Drawing Prize 2004 - Touring show incl. The Jerwood Space, London – The Lowrey Centre, Salford, UK
25 Drawings – 25 Artists - The Drawing Gallery, London, UK
30x30 - Vertigo Gallery, London, UK
New Photography - Sarah Myerscough, London, UK
The Artist and the City - Spectrum Gallery, London, UK
Summer Exhibition - Case 1 Gallery, London, UK
*Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London, UK
Mobile Clubbing, London (various)
Shorticulture - (Suzie Watson) Gin Glik, London, UK
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London, UK
Media Centre – London, UK
2003
Albino - 291 Gallery, London, UK
Walter&Craig - (Joint Show with Andrew Craig) Foundry, London, UK
30X30 - Vertigo Gallery, London, UK
Christmas Show - Vertigo Gallery, London, UK
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London, UK
2002
Sale - Selfridges, London
14”X14” - Century Gallery, London
Transgressing the City’s Limits - (Dialogue with Kelly Bushell) The Bull Theatre, Barnet, UK
Drawing - Vertigo Gallery, London
30X30 - Vertigo Gallery, London
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London
Vertigo Graphics - Vertigo Gallery, London
Batteries Not Included - Fortress Studios - Catch 22 - The Rocket Complex
2001
Ghost - Inside Space, London
*The Show 1 - Royal College of Art, London
*MA Printmaking Artists - Clifford Chance, London
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London
Apthorp Fund for Young Artists - Touring Show, London
2000
Group Show - BBC Broadcasting House, London
RCA Secret - Royal College of Art, London
Printmaking & Sculpture Interim - Royal College of Art
Apthorp Fund for Young Artists, Touring Show, London
1999
Absolute Secret - Royal College of Art
Apthorp Fund for Young Artists, Touring Show, London
1998
*NEAC Open - The Mall Galleries, London
Dual Show with Rachael McKraw - 60/40, Manchester, UK
Absolute Secret - Royal College of Art
First Open Print Show - The Place, Letchworth, UK
Apthorp Fund for Young Artists, Touring Show, London
COLLECTIONS
Victoria & Albert Museum, UK
The British Museum, UK
Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
The British Library, UK
Deutsche Bank, London, UK
British Government Art Collection, UK
Houses of Parliament Museums, London, UK
Trussardi Foundation, Milan, Italy
Royal Geographical Society, London, UK
University of Manchester Library Collection, UK
London Transport Museum, UK
Museum of London, UK
Royal College of Art Drawing Collection, London, UK
Royal College of Art Printmaking Collection, London, UK
London Borough of Barnet Public Collection, UK
Hiscox PLC, UK
Exeter University Art Collection, UK
Cecil Sharp House, London, UK
David Roberts, London, UK
Cyril Taylor, Taylor Owen, UK
Soho House - Berlin & London.
Asticus Collection, UK.
Plus a number of other international private collections
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES / COMMISSIONS
2019
Comoé Artist Residency, Comoe National Park, Ivory Coast.
2014-16
Map Commission - Poly-Olbion Project – Flash of Splendour Arts CIS & The Lottery Fund, UK
2014
Map Commission - Hertsmere Council, UK
Book Cover and illustrations - Bradley L Garrett, Subterranean London: Cracking the Capital, Prestel / Random House, London
2012
Book Cover – Squid & Tabernacle, Geographies of the Artist's Studio #1, June 26
2011-12
Map Commission - London Subterranea, London Transport Museum, London
2010-Present
Orion Books, Cover designs for - Rivers of London Series and others by Ben Aaronovitch
2009
Map Commission, Business Design Centre, London.
2008
Map Commission, Subterranea Victoria & Albert Museum, London,
Map Commission, Blood on Paper, Victoria & Albert Museum, London,
Music Album Cover, Syncopated City - London Elektricity, Hospital Records, UK
2007
Artist Residency, The LAB, San Francisco, USA
Commission - Epson Head Quarters, UK
2005-07
Fellowship in Printmaking - Royal Academy of Arts Schools, London
2004
Award - Jerwood Drawing Prize 2004, 2ND Prize, UK
2003
Artist Residency, Artist in Access - Central St. Martins College of Art & Design, London
2002
Artist Residency, Queen Elizabeth’s School for Boys, Barnet, UK
Apthorp Fund (Purchase Prize), London Borough Of Barnet
2001
Award - Tim Mara Charitable Trust (Printmaking), Royal College of Art, London
Daler Rowney Drawing Prize, Royal College of Art, London
Apthorp Fund (Purchase Prize), London Borough Of Barnet
2000
Suny Purchase College Travel Award - New York, USA
1998
Apthorp Fund (Purchase Prize), London Borough Of Barnet
Award - Letchworth Art Centre Print Prize, UK
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS / CATALOGUES
2023
Gloria Lanci, Art Maps and Cities - Palgrave Macmillan Cham, UK
2021
Brenda Thornley, Map Quiz Book, Hardie Grant Travel, Australia
2020
Erik T Frank, Combattre, Sauver, Soigner – CNRS Editions, France
2019
Huw Lewis-Jones, An Atlas of Imagined Islands, Thames and Hudson, London
2017
Stephen Walter, The Island: London Mapped - jigsaw puzzle, Prestel/Random House, London
Stephen Walter, The Island: London Mapped Posters - book, Prestel/Random House, London
Londonist, Londonist Mapped: Hand-Drawn Maps for the Curious Londoner, AA Publishing, UK
2016
Handbook of Mapping and Cartography, Routledge, Oxford, UK
Individuals & Society, Hodder Education, London, UK
2015
Stephen Walter, The Island: London Mapped - book, Prestel/Random House, London
The World in a Mirror - exhibition catalogue, Museum aan de Stroom, Antwerp, Belgium
2014
Jerry Brotton, Great Maps: the world’s masterpieces explored and explained - book, Dorling Kindersley, London
Bradley L Garrett, Subterranean London: Cracking the Capital - book, Prestel / Random House, London
D Vichnar, O Pek, J Nieuwland, Terrain: Essays on the New Poetics - book, Litteraria Pragensia, Prague, Czech Republic
2013
Stephen Walter, The Visitors’ Guide to Nova Utopia, TAG Fine Art, London
Poster - London Subterranea, London Transport Museum Shop, UK
Lokaal01 and Frederik Vergaert, Once More unto the Breach, Dear Friend, Once More - exhibition catalogue, Breda/Antwerp, Belgium
A Antonis, R Klanten, S Ehmann & H Hellige, A Map of the World According to Illustrators & Storytellers - book, Gestalten, Berlin
The House of Fairy Tales Cartography Portfolio (House of Fairy Tales & TAG Fine Arts), UK
Coriander Studio Box Set Portfolio, London, UK
2012
Walterian London by Cogapp. Ipad App, (2012-2017)
Claire Dobbin, London Underground Maps: Art, Design & Cartography - book, Lund Humphries / London Transport Museum, Farnham, UK
Liverpool Love, Box Set Portfolio (with Coriander Studio), Liverpool, UK
Liane Lang, Once Upon A Time in the West - A Geography of Artist’s Studios, Artist book, London, UK
Jenny Sjöholm, Goegraphies of the Artist’s Studio #1, Suid & Tabernacle. London, UK
2011
M Gray, H Limon, D Ewer & H Shilland, The Art of Mapping - exhibition catalogue, TAG Fine Arts, London, UK
2010
Peter Barber and Tom Harper, Magnificent Maps: Power, Propaganda & Art - Exhibition Catalogue, The British Library, London, UK
2008
Stephen Walter, The Island: London Series - exhibition catalogue, TAG Fine Arts, London, UK
2007
Downs, Marshall, Sawdon, Selby & Tormey, Drawing Now: Between the Lines of Contemporary Art - book, I B Tauris, New York, USA
2007
Curwen Studio Box Set Portfolio, UK
2001
Royal College of Art, Department of Printmaking Box Set Portfolio, UK
2001
Royal College of Art, The Show 2001- exhibition catalogue, London, 2001
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2021
Christies (online feature), What I’ve Learned: Jane Hay, 15 June.
Colchester + Ipswich Museums (online), Mapping the Landscape: Maps as art (by Nick Millea, Map Librarian at the Bodleian Libraries).
2020
Art Matters Podcast, The Artistry Behind Maps ft. Nick Millea – Episode 66, 29 Sep 2020, Ferren Gipson.
2019
WhyNow magazine, Stephen Walter is mapping the past, present and future, Benna Hammond, December
The Fourdrinier (online), This Land is Our Land: Interview with the Curators, Sara Jaspan, March.
2017
Courier magazine, Studio spaces, Apr/May Issue
2016
XYHT (Geospatial Publication – USA), Map as Art, September Issue
Catalogue essay for Stephen Walter´s Nova Utopia , Blurred Lines, Clarisse M. Monahan, 26 January
2015
Evening Standard, London Books, Mark Sanderson, Dec 03
The Guardian, The Island: Book Review, David Shariatmadari 21 May
Londonist, The Island book review, Matt Brown, 18 May
The Observer, Artist Stephen Walter: ‘My maps are all about human residues and traces’, Tim Adams, 10 May
The Guardian, May Picture Gallery, 10 May
Quadrapheme, Book Review, Derek Turner, 9 June
The Londonist, Rivers of London, Matt Brown, 30 January
2014
Pamphlet Magazine, Shady cartography: Stephen Walter Maps London, J Nieuwland, 2014
Apollo Magazine, Greatest hits of London Cartography, Peter Watts, 11 September
Jackson’s Art Blog, Drawings from Stephen Walter’s World, Lisa Takahashi, 9 September
2013
International Map Collectors Society, Worth a Look: Stephen Walter’s ‘Anthropocene’ and ‘Nova Utopia’, Autumn
Bluecoat Liverpool, interview with Stephen Walter and Bradley Garrett (Liverpool Gothic Festival), November
The Economist, Intelligent Life, Clare Clark, Cartophilia: Buried Treasure, May/June
Wired Magazine, Exhibition showcases artist's highly intricate, hand-drawn maps, Olivia Solon, 28 June
Design Week, London Mapping, Emily Gosling, 27 June
1883 Magazine, Stephen Walter, Jacopo Nuvolari, June
2012
Society of Cartographers, Bulletin Vol 46, 3 Sep
Life Magazine – China, Beibei Yin, Issue 80, July
2011
The Independent, Mapping a return to whimsical cartography, Matilda Battersby, 3 October
Barnet Times, London life captured in Barnet artist's works, Rebecca Perring, 31 August
2011
Guardian, Words on the street: Stephen Walter’s city maps, Kevin Braddock, 2 Feb
Art of England, Tool Kit, Issue 86 October
Ham & High, The map that sees Londoners’ lives from a totally new perspective, 29 September
2009
Guardian, Guide to Drawing: Artist Stephen Walter on how he draws, Perri Lewis, 19 September
Art in Liverpool, 30 September
The Hospital Club, Issue 21
Printmaking Today, Artist’s Eye, Michael Sims, Spring
The Courtauld Institute of Art, February
transversalinflections.com, J Nieuwland, Shady cartography: Stephen Walter’s London, December 2014
Culture 24, Stephen Walter, Miltos Manetas & Dzifa Benson, East Wing, Ben Miller 22 January
2008
Electronic Beats Magazine, …and the Geek Shall Inherit the Earth!, Lars Borges, Lisa Borges & Viktoria Pelles, Issue 03
Icon Magazine, William Wiles, April
The Londonist, Zoe Craig, 6 February
RADIO / PODCASTS
2024
Very Expensive Maps Podcast, Evan Applegate, USA
2020
Art Matters Podcast, The Artistry Behind Maps ft. Nick Millea – Episode 66, 29 Sep 2020, Ferren Gipson.
2015
BBC London, Robert Elms Show - interview, 12 May
2012
Londonist Out Loud, N Quentin Woolf, 1 December
2009
BBC 6 Music, George Lamb show – interview, 30 October
2008
BBC London, Robert Elms Show, February
2003
Resonance FM @ Foundry, London - interview (Bill Drummond) and panel talk. 19 Dec
TALKS | TEACHING | WORKSHOPS
2021
Visiting lecturer, University of Huddersfield (Foundation Course), UK
2020
Artist Talk, Talking Maps exhibition - Bodleian Library, Oxford, UK
2019-18
Visiting lecturer, Arts University Bournemouth AUB, UK
2018
Artist talk, North London Story Festival - Middlesex University, UK
Visiting lecturer, Arts University Bournemouth AUB, UK
2017
Visiting lecturer, Fondazione Antonio Ratti, (Mapping & Landscape workshop – Martina Corgnati, Brera Academy in Milan), Italy.
Visiting lecturer, Architectural Association, Landscape Urbanism MA, London, UK
Artist talk and workshop, Utopia Think Tank, Somerset House, London, UK
2016
University of Liverpool, Cartographies of Citizens (Gloria Lanci), UK
Artist workshop, Designology - London Transport Museum, Friday Late, UK
Artist talk, London Lore - Treadwell’s Book Store, (Booklaunch event - John Mathews, incl. Iain Sinclair), UK
Artist talk, Grimshaw Architects, London, UK
2015
Visiting lecturer, Queen Mary University, Centre for Renaissance and Early Modern Studies (Jerry Brotton), UK
Living Maps Symposium, Burbeck University (With Phil Cohen, Bradley Garrett & Laura Oldfield Ford), UK
Visiting lecturer, Greenwich University, Dept. of Architecture, UK
Artist talk, Royal Geographical Society, Open House weekend (with Steven Backley & John Mathews), UK
In Search of Shortcuts, Unstable Ground, Simon Woolham (Virtual)
2014
RIBA Architecture Partnership Anniversary Symposium, London, UK
Member of the scientific Committee of the exhibition De wereld gespiegeld, Museum aan de Stroom (MAS), Antwerp, Belgium
2013
Liverpool International Gothic Festival, UK
Artist talk, Oxford University, Dept. of English, Graduate Fair, Book as Object, Oxford, UK
2012
London Transport Museum, London Subterranea (with Will Self and Robert Elms), UK
Society of Cartographers, 48th Annual Conference, University College London, UK
2011
Air Gallery, The Art of Mapping, London, UK
2010
British Library, Magnificent Maps (with Iain Sinclair, Grayson Perry & Lisa Jardine), UK
2008
In conversation with Robert Elms and Carl Vann (Art, Architecture, Maps), St Pancras Parish Church, UK
2007
Royal Academy Schools, Fellow in Printmaking Lecture, UK
Visiting lecturer, City & Guilds London Art School
2006
Gallery Talk, Standpoint Gallery, for Contemporary Arts Society, London, UK
2005
Gallery Talk, The LAB, San Francisco, USA
Visiting lecturer, UCA Canterbury, (Dept of Fine Art), UK
2004
Visiting lecturer, University of Huddersfield (Dept of Fine Art), UK
2001
Royal College of Art, Judge for entry applications, Printmaking Dept.
EDUCATION
1999-2001 Royal College of Art - MA Fine Art Printmaking
1995-98 Manchester Metropolitan University - BA Fine Art (1st Class Honours)
1994-95 Middlesex University - BTEC Diploma in Art & Design Foundation
1988-94 Queen Elizabeth’s School for Boys, Barnet