Margate Pride Presents: Queer Portraits at Pie Factory Margate

Margate Pride Presents: Queer Portraits at Pie Factory Margate

Featuring Artists Brogan Bertie, Tara Tara Li-An and Abi Birkinshaw + Film by Kate Malyon: A Note to My Young Queer Self

Margate Pride is proud to present a powerful and intimate exhibition at the Pie Factory Margate, spotlighting the work of three dynamic queer portrait artists: Brogan Bertie, Tara Tara Li-An  and Abi Birkinshaw. Running from August 1st to August 10th, 2025, this collaborative show celebrates queer identity, resilience, and the power of self-representation through the medium of portraiture.

As part of the Margate Pride Map 2025, this exhibition invites audiences to explore contemporary queer experiences through striking, deeply personal artwork that challenges, uplifts, and reclaims space.

In addition to the exhibition, the show features a special screening of A Note to My Young Queer Self, a heartfelt and moving film by director Kate Malyon, reflecting on queer youth, memory, and hope for future generations. The film will be shown throughout the duration of the exhibition.

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Abi Birkinshaw

(b. 1996, Cardiff, South Wales)

Abi Birkinshaw is a painter whose work narrates her lived experience, translating moments from daily life into visual form. Her most recent paintings explore the act of looking—of observing others in the act of watching. Within her compositions, headless figures, floating heads, and fragments of text populate ambiguous spaces suspended between the real and imagined, the past and the present.

Abi studied at the Cardiff School of Art and Design, where she completed a BA (Hons) in Fine Art (2015–2018) followed by a Master of Fine Art (2018–2019). She previously completed a Foundation Diploma in Art and Design at the University of South Wales.

Her work has been exhibited widely across the UK, including BEEP Painting Biennial (2022), a solo show at SHIFT Cardiff (concrete lines, baby., 2023), and recent group exhibitions in Bristol, London, and Cardiff. In 2025, she was represented by Columbia Road Gallery at the London Art Fair.

Brogan Bertie

(b. 1995, South London)

Brogan Bertie is a painter and artist based in Margate. He graduated from the London College of Communication in 2019, beginning his creative career in freelance illustration and animation before undertaking leatherwork training with the Margate-based Cope Studio. Alongside this, he cultivated a distinctive portraiture practice and went on to win Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year. Brogan now works exclusively as a fine artist from his studio at TKE in Margate.

His painting practice is rooted in a desire for connection and true authenticity. Working from life, he creates a space of intimacy and spontaneous energy between himself and the sitter. Through the physicality of oil paint, Brogan produces rich, textured portraits that are honest and tender, conveying deeply human connections with all their complexity and beauty.

Tara Li-An

(b. 1979)

Tara Li-An is a multidisciplinary artist working across photography, design, and mixed media. She graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2002, and her background in design, film, and editorial work informs her distinctive approach to portraiture. Combining digital and analogue methods, her black-and-white photography explores fractured narratives and memory, capturing intimate moments that reflect shared human experience.

As a Chinese mixed-race queer woman, Tara’s cultural and social identity is central to her work. She views photography as a dual lens—revealing both subject and photographer—and as a means of understanding identity and belonging.

In this exhibition, Tara explores themes of home, migration, and cultural inheritance, focusing on stories of e/immigration and transience in Margate, her current home. Her practice embraces alternative printing techniques, including the use of plant materials, to reduce environmental impact. These methods intertwine with her thematic interests, reflecting the interconnectedness of ecosystems and human narratives. Tara’s transient portraits evoke migration, displacement, and memory, inviting reflection on our relationship with the natural world and one another.

Kate Malyon

Kate Malyon is the creator and director of A Note to My Young, Queer Self. Born and bred in Thanet, she trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London and has since worked extensively on stage and screen, both nationally and internationally. Her recent credits include work with the National Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, Soho Theatre, and the BBC.

This project, A Note to My Young, Queer Self, asks a powerful question: what if you could go back and meet your younger self? What would you say? What would you want them to know? In response, queer writer-performers from Margate share short, heartfelt letters addressed to their younger selves, reflecting on pivotal moments of self-discovery, struggle, resilience, and joy.

Credits, Nell Andrew, Brogan Bertie, Kali Varghese, Jessica Lauren, Ash Mukhergee, Kate Malyon, Tamara Campbell, Tom Giles

This work is a celebration of the strength and beauty found in living authentically. It offers a poignant exploration of the past and its enduring impact on the present, reminding us of the importance of self-acceptance and the transformative power of telling our stories.