Neeta Pedersen – Artist

Lewesians Unwrapped – Artist & Director, curator of Star Brewery Gallery

As you step in The Star Brewery building you immediately get a sense of the transformation that the old brewery has undergone over the years. Walk straight along the corridor, past a vibrant pottery and a superb jewellery workshop and you will find yourself in The Star Brewery Gallery which the current director, Neeta Pedersen, has worked tirelessly to revitalise.

A multi-talented artist

Neeta is herself a very talented artist, and when I went to meet her I was struck by her energy and enthusiasm as well as her huge range of skills.

She has an interesting history – “I was born in Mumbai, adopted by a Danish couple at the age of six months, and grew up in Aarhus, Denmark. Leaving home at 17, I travelled to Israel and subsequently to India and Nepal for six months to absorb and observe the culture I came from.”

Neeta moved to Lewes in 1997 for Brighton College and some years later after further study gained a BA (Hons) in Animation from the University of Westminster in London, taking on the role of director and curator at the Star Brewery Gallery in 2020. She has created a unique art space where both established and emerging artists showcase a vibrant and diverse range of exhibitions.

Neeta’s work consists of paintings, digital art and illustrations, sculptures and also fashionable designs for women’s accessories. A few of her images are shown below but I urge you to take a look at her website as her designs are stunning and there is an online shop where you can purchase prints and accessories. Neeta also offers a web design service and promotional materials for artists. See Neeta Pedersen

An exciting array of work

Under Neeta’s curatorship visitors to the gallery have been gifted with an exciting array of work – from traditional and contemporary artwork by local artists, including Peter Messer, Tom Benjamin, Andrew Fitchett, Julian Bell, Chelsea Renton, Rachael Plummer, Harriet Hildick-Smith, Peter Chasseaud, Sarah Money and many more.

The gallery is proud to have featured original artworks by some of the most revered artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries including Matisse, Picasso, Miró, Dali, Klimt, Tracy Emin, Man Ray, Paula Rego, Lichtenstein, Francis Bacon, Piet Mondrian, Henry Moore, David Hockney and Chagall.

The Star Brewery Gallery also hosts the annual Royal Opera House Design Challenge exhibition, featuring innovative works by students from the Art & Design Extended Diploma at East Sussex College, Lewes.