Beddington's work investigates the intersection between the historical and the contemporary, often in relation to journeys and migration. Beddington is interested in traces in the landscape, the power of the collective voice and walking as a means of affirming presence. Her works in film and video, as well as in fragile or ephemeral media such as etched glass and silverpoint drawing, present a minutely scrutinised sense of place that offer a poetic reading of the overlap between the historical, the mythical and the everyday, potentially opening up a space to future scenarios.
Beddington's work has been shown in many museums, galleries and film festivals including: City States, Liverpool Biennale; Les Rencontres Internationales, Centre Pompidou, Paris and Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid; Eastern Standards: Western Artists in China, MASS MoCA, USA; FIDMarseille International Film Festival; LOOP film and video festival, Angels Gallery, Barcelona; Vanishing Point, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio. She has recently been shortlisted for the Artangel Open Commission and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation award in the UK and received a Bloomberg LP special commission in 2008. She had a research residency in 2014 at the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds and previous artistic residencies include International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP, 2002–2003) and Cité des Arts in Paris (2009–2010).
2014 "From here to there and on beyond. . ." permanent installation in lobby of new school, New York2008 Places of Laughter and of Crying, curated by Sacha Craddock and Graham Gussin, Bloomberg SPACE, LondonCrossing, curated by Tania Duvergne, Dumbo Arts Center (DAC), New York
2005–2006 Panoptiscope, curated by James Putnam, Petrie Museum, University College London2005 Parallel Lines and Other Stories, curated by Alena Williams, Bootlab, Berlin2004 Momenta Art, New York2003 where would you rather be..., FLAT, ArtBasel, Paradeisos Center, Miami2003 Double Trouble, curated by Felicity Hogan, FLAT, New York2001 Forty Nights, Hales Gallery, London1999 Galleri Wallner, Malmö, Sweden1999 Sarah Beddington, Hales Gallery, LondonSelected Group Exhibitions and Film screenings
2016 Secret Agent, Guest Projects , London2015 FIDMarseille International Film Festival2013 Jericho: beyond the celestial and terrestrial, Birzeit University Museum, Birzeit, West Bank of Palestine2012 the near and the elsewhere, PM Gallery, LondonSheffield Fringe, Sheffield Documentary Film Festival
2011 Les Rencontres Internationales, Centre Pompidou, Paris and Haus de Kulturen de Welt, BerlinFIDLab, FIDMarseille, Marseille
2010 City States, Liverpool BiennaleA travers un cercle de regards, Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris
2009 Les Rencontres Internationales, Reina Sofia Museum, MadridThe Other Shadow of the City, al Hoash Gallery, JerusalemSarah Beddington, General Public, BerlinRIWAQ Biennale, Ramallah, West BankEastern Standards: Western Artists in China, curated by Susan Cross, MASS MoCA, USA
2008 Les Rencontres Internationales, Beaux-arts de Paris, ParisThe Animal Gaze, London Metropolitan University, LondonRe-Construction, curated by Ami Barak, YAB Bucharest Biennale, BucharestMap Games, Today Museum, Beijing, China; Birmingham City Art Museum, UKAMBULANTE, Injerto, Gira de Documentales, Mexico City and touring
2007 RIWAK Biennale, curated by Charles Esche and Art School Palestine, RamallahAbout Time, Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, DenmarkNordic Video Festival, Sweden
2006 Panoramica, The Rufino Tamayo Museum, Mexico CityThe Experiment, Peekskill Project, Peekskill, New York
2005 Vanishing Point, curated by Claudine Isé, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OhioLOOP Video Festival, Galeria del Angels, Barcelona