Réka Ritt Laklia (b. Budapest, 1978) based in London.

In my works, I explore the connection between nature and culture through the lenses of folklore, non-dualistic philosophies, mystical practices and other systems of metaphysical exploration as possible pathways to reconcile the two. I use copper as the ground I return to, recreating the haven of my childhood: my father’s copper workshop in Budapest. Copper, like water, is a conductor; working with it is a dialogue between inheritance and transformation. The material carries the trace of my ancestry; at the same time, my process draws on what I have gathered from living across cultures.

My latest paintings evoke the place where I first felt an intimate spiritual connection with nature: the Drava River and its surrounding floodplains. As all water bodies, this is a place of complex contradictions, initiation and death, connection and boundary, sustenance and destruction - and it is a powerful one. Réka means 'water', and these are the waters my ancestors lived by for many generations. In these paintings water spirits, hybrid creatures and dissolving bodies often appear, connecting and challenging traditions and patriarchal narratives about women and water with the modern ecological and political dimensions of hydrofeminism.

Selected solo and Group Exhibitions, Prizes and Residencies

2026

  • SALON 0502, The Old Waiting Room, London, UK

  • Ongoing, Noho Studios, London, UK

  • Shifting Realities, Hockney Gallery, Kensington, UK

2025

  • Winter Exhibition 2024/25, AKA Fine Art, Cambridge, UK

  • STILLNESS, Angel Central, London, UK

2024

  • Zari Art Prize, Zari Gallery, London, UK

  • STRANDS, Downstairs at The Department Store, Brixton, London, UK

  • Macfarlanes Art Prize, London, UK

  • Works on Paper, Gallery at Green and Stone, London, UK

  • Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK

2023

  • Art Gemini Prize, First Prize Painting, Zari Gallery, London, UK

  • 10x10 ArtCan Anniversary, Hansard Studio, London, UK

  • A Glorious Journey, group exhibition, Gallery Different, London, UK

  • Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK

2022

  • Collaborations, group exhibition, Goodnestone Park stately home and gardens & Linden Hall Studio, Goodnestone, Dover, Kent, UK

  • Elevate 04, group exhibition, The Shard, London, UK

  • Stories 02, group exhibition, News Building, London, UK

  • Royal Academy Summer Exhibition 2022, London UK

  • Expanded Painting, AIR Gallery, group exhibition, Altrincham, UK

  • GoldBlink Short Film Awards, Honorable Mention, Best Micro Film

  • Inspirational Women Artists, God's House Tower arts and heritage space, Southampton, UK

  • Scarab Short Film Festival, Best Micro-Short Film, Dubai, UAE

  • Human Gold, group exhibition, Thoresby Gallery, Newark, UK

2021

  • Folklore and Traditions, LoosenArt, group exhibition, Rome, Italy.

  • MicroActs9, program of short films curated by Liberty Antonia Sadler, Hotel Elephant, London, UK.

  • Alternative Textile, group exhibition, MKISZ-Association of Hungarian Artists, Budapest, Hungary.

  • Winter Group Show, Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent, UK.

2020

  • Premier London and HOPE Exhibition 2020, organised by (IAL) International Artists Link Org, online.

  • Bath Society of Artists Open Exhibition, Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, UK.

  • Fusion Art 5th Anniversary International Online Juried Art Exhibition, Palm Springs, United States.

2019

  • Contemporary Landscape, group exhibition, 508 Gallery, London, UK.

  • Born to Loop, group exhibition, Mary Magdalene Church Tower, Buda Castle, Budapest, Hungary.

  • Fresh Harvest, Károlyi Stately Home of Fehérvárcsurgó, Hungary.

  • 3rd International Alternative Textile Symposion, residency, Somogytur, Hungary.

2017

  • Second Draft, group exhibition, Safehouse 2, London, UK.

  • Gebilde Painters, group exhibition, 5th Base Gallery, London, UK.

2016

  • Let The Dust Settle, group exhibition, The Crypt Gallery, London, UK.

  • Bare Home, solo exhibition, Eaton Place, London, UK.

  • Draft, group exhibition, Safehouse 2, London, UK.

  • ArtGemini Prize, Asia House Gallery, London, UK.

2015

  • CBM Art Prize, III Edition, Villa Vallero, Rivarolo, Italy.

  • ArtGemini Prize 2015, Menier Gallery, London, UK.

  • Griffin Gallery Open 2015, group exhibition, London, UK.

  • Summer Mixed Exhibition 2015, Gorstella Gallery, Chester, UK.

  • White Spirits, group exhibition, Safehouse 1, London, UK.

  • Undercover, solo exhibition, Clarendon Studios, London, UK.

2014

  • ArtGemini Prize, Rebecca Hossack Gallery, London, UK.

  • Crash Open Salon, group exhibition, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK.

2013

  • Wells Art Contemporary 2013, group exhibition, Wells, UK.

  • Cork Street Open Exhibition 2013, Cork Street Gallery, London, UK.

  • Creekside Open 2013 Selected by Paul Noble, APT Gallery, London, UK.

Education

2025-26

MA Painting, Royal College of Art

2021

NewPlatform Art Professional Development Programme for 2021 in association with Parker Harris.

2013-16

BA (Hons) Fine Art, Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London. 1st Class Honours.

2012-13

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design, Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London. Distinction.

2011-16

Clarendon Studios, Fine Art Private Education and Mentoring, London.

1996-2001

Doctorate in Law and Political Sciences, Pázmány Péter University, Budapest.

Corporate Commissions

2018

Open Society Foundations, London.

2016

D5 Executive Gymnasium, Dubai

2015

Discovery Networks, London.

2014

Frontier Economics, London.

Hitachi Consulting UK, London.