Tom Speedy graduated in June 2025 with a First-Class Honours Degree in Fine Art from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, Dundee. Two of his Degree Show paintings have since travelled to Unit London during Frieze Week as part of the group exhibition Don’t Look Back. Tom has been selected to exhibit in the RSA New Contemporaries (2026) and was awarded an RSA John Kinross Scholarship, allowing him to spend the autumn gathering inspiration across Italy. Tom presents a new body of work partly inspired by his experience of the Palio in Siena. A city steeped in ritual and tradition, the Sienese community engage in the beating of drums, flag-bearing and parading - all in anticipation of a 90-second sporting event unlike any other. At the Palio, Tom managed to squeeze his way within touching distance of ten bareback jockeys as they raced around the central Piazza del Campo amidst 50,000 spectators. Amongst the chaos and adrenaline, the race felt alive with echoes of the past. Tom seeks to capture his fleeting memories of his time in Italy through an open and ambiguous narrative, often reflecting states of drifting, separation, and displacement. Figures in a state of limbo are reimagined as fragmented and otherworldly images, reflecting Tom’s interest in the untouched and unexplored - a kind of no man’s land where places and incidents intertwine.
Academic
Duncan of Jordanstone, College of Art and Design, Dundee 2025 - First Class Honours BA Fine Art
James Guthrie Orchar Memorial Art Prize
Awards
2025 RSA John Kinross Scholarship, Florence
2025 The New Blood Emerging Art Prize, Shortlist
2025 WSA painting Prize 2025, Nominee
2025 Freeland’s Foundation Painting Prize, Nominee
2025 Hero Image, DJCAD Degree Show
2022 D31 Art Prize, Shortlist
2022 Sky Arts – Wildcard, Landscape Artist of the Year