In The Studio 2019
In The Studio 2019 The title In the Studio inevitably brings to mind romanticised creative spaces where artistic inspiration flows by leaving the rest of the world outside, or maybe not? Perhaps, we are becoming more familiar with the reality that artists have to constantly reinvent the notion of the studio. From bedrooms, kitchens, garden sheds to outdoor locations and public spaces, even a single laptop can serve as a ‘studio’. The In the Studio project and exhibition has invited 22 artists between the ages of 18 to 26 to explore both tangible and intangible artistic spaces in order to piece together their own narrative of ‘studio life’. Could it essentially be the artist’s everyday life while navigating personal and communal spaces? And in what ways do contemporary art practices challenge and shift both the spatial but also mental meaning of the artist’s studio? Throughout In the Studio, we have been meeting artists whose studios are intrinsically linked to their living spaces, while others prefer to have a clear divide between the two. We have also been exploring how these spaces influence the working methods and lifestyle of artists. Even though the idea of the ‘artist’s studio’ was the starting point for In the Studio, in the process, the project became more of a collaborative investigation of the different approaches to being an artist today, with friendships forming, and creative exchanges happening. In the Studio has included studio visits to individual artists, collectives, art schools, as well as talks, behind the scenes tours during hanging days of our exhibitions, drawing in urban spaces, mentoring with Mall Galleries’ artists and team members. In the end, our version of In the Studio has turned out to be more about the people and the sharing of ideas rather than the spaces themselves. The following thoughts by In the Studio artist Maddie Exton provide an alternative approach to having a rigid view of what we do, where we do it and what we have to offer, whether we are artists, doctors, farmers or teachers: ‘I have some issues with the image of “the artist” because it comes with the connotation that I am gifted in ways that most people aren’t. But I am not. I never spent much time in galleries as a kid and always felt they were big buildings full of expensive things you have to respect and if you didn’t like what you saw, then you were just not clever enough to understand it. And that is not what art is about. I pretty much feel the same now apart
from the ‘understanding art’ bit because now I know it is OK to dislike art and it should be critiqued in the same way we critique films or the top 40. So it is cool now to be asked by an internationally recognised gallery to create something’. Elli Koumousi Head of Education and Cultural Strategy The majority of work in the show will be for sale, with all proceeds from the gallery’s commission going towards supporting Mall Galleries’ Education Department. In the Studio is generously supported by: • Garfield Weston Foundation • The Thistle Trust • Ron Hoile • Neil and Tracy Davidson • Richard Buxton • and many Friends of Mall Galleries and individual supporters
What’s next for In the Studio? This is just the beginning of what In the Studio has to offer emerging artists. Year 2 of In the Studio will invite a new wave of young talent to become part of our artistic community. The focus will continue to be on professional development and mentoring, but we will also introduce new art residencies, as well as take young artists to schools and community spaces, helping them develop their own educational events, workshops and projects. And our Year 1 In the Studio alumni will be back to act as mentors. Donate to Year 2 of In the Studio and help us grow this free learning initiative at www.mallgalleries.org.uk/learning
Talks & Events In the Studio Soundscapes: Drawing and Music Morning
Thursday 15 August, 11am to 1pm Free Come and experience the In the Studio exhibition as a combination of experimental live music and action drawing. Musicians P J Ciarla, Lucas Polo and James Rose will create immersive soundscapes in response to the exhibition, while you capture them in action as part of a large floor drawing activity.
Are Life Models Artists? Talk by Dominic Blake
Thursday 15 August, 2:30pm Free Dominic Blake is a professional Life Model, working with many major museums, galleries and art schools in London. During this talk, Dominic will cover the historical importance of the practice of drawing from life, moving from antiquity to the Renaissance through to the present day and the symbiotic role Life Models play within the artistic relationships they share with those people who draw them.
Two Artists - One Portrait from a Photograph Workshop
Saturday 17 Aug, 12 noon to 3pm Free, but book in advance. In the Studio artists Paulina Kwietniewska and Suzon Lagarde team up for a hands-on watercolour painting workshop. Prior to the workshop, you will be asked to send in a few photographs of your loved ones or individuals you would like to paint. Suzon and Paulina will print them out and work with you in order to create a finished portrait.
Instinctive Drawing with Artist Lucy Savage and Ballerina Miriam Pierzak Saturday 17 August, 1pm to 3pm Free Join Hesketh Hubbard Bursary Recipient Lucy Savage and ballerina Miriam Pierzak for a glimpse of their collaborative practice. Get inspired by Lucy’s instinctive mark making approach and capture Miriam in energetic poses. Follow Lucy’s example of ‘disconnecting from the world around us as well as our constant thoughts, trust your instincts and act in the moment’.
Please note that the drawing events will be floor-based. There will be a limited amount of chairs and boards available.
Claire Anscomb The Creative Space of William Brown Graphite on paper 4 drawings: 10.5 x 25 cm, 2 drawings: 25 x 25 cm
“The drawings in this series have been constructed and assembled to embody the typically hidden and mysterious nature of what lies behind the production of art. Depicting the artist at work in their creative space, while demonstrating that creative spaces enable artists to become fully absorbed in, and inhabit their work.� Claire completed her BA Fine Art at the Winchester School of Art in 2014 and since then has exhibited in a range of shows including the Jerwood Drawing Prize, Columbia Threadneedle Prize, and Royal Society of Portrait Painters Annual Exhibition. She has been the recipient of the Signature Art Prize in Drawing and Printmaking (2014) and the Arts Club Charitable Trust Award (2015). She has recently completed a PhD in History and Philosophy of Art and currently lives, and continues to practice as an artist, in Surrey.
William GC Brown Making Pictures Oil on canvas 150 x 170 cm
“The subject in the painting is fellow artist Sang Woo Kim; I spent a day in Sang Woo’s studio collecting images of his workspace and the work itself, piecing them together to form this composition. This collaging is a reflection of the way we make sense of the world around us, with different competing planes of observation and memory coming together to influence what we see.” William is a figurative painter whose primary focus is portraiture. Having opted to circumvent the art school route, he complemented his interest in people by studying Psychology at the University of Bath.
Eduarda Craveiro Black Ark Oil pastel, charcoal, collage 60 x 42 cm
“An imagined study of Lee Scratch Perry’s Black Ark Recording Studio engulfed in smoke after the devil had made his studio its home.” An Illustration student at Camberwell College of Arts, Eduarda portrays an eclectic and satirical view of simple things in the day-to-day, using the environment and objects she surrounds herself with. Focusing on processes of making, most of the materials used are found or collected and given a new life.
Maddie Exton Social Cycle Theory Photography Various dimensions
“The collection started with what I thought was a funny phenomenon, but as I noticed, documented and collected more, I realised that footprints in concrete are surprisingly common, if you look. Whether these footprints are accidental or act as autographs I don’t know, but these concrete moments point to the idea that we can smooth over the earth as much as we want, striving to make things perfect and seamless, but there will always be a human touch. These images are noteworthy because footprints are usually not visible long. I was really thinking about how many footprints would cover the world, if you could see them. Like layers. Footprints on footprints on footprints.”
Jonathan Farningham Self-portrait in Solitude Oil on canvas 51 x 43 cm
“Self-portrait in Solitude was created in response to an electrically lit environment and a search for detail in the shadows. I am particularly engaged with selfportraiture as an outlet to expose our blind spots and be under the scrutiny of our own judgements. My work concerns viewing the world around me and remodelling it with oil paint. I am compelled by the power of portraits and I hope to present not only outward appearances but a true observation of an individual. My way of seeing is to respond to colour and tone and analyse the roles they play in what I observe. I believe in utilising a simple palette of primary colours and white because what we see is a dappled set of nuances based on the simplest of colours. My intention is to always paint without prejudice as if seeing for the first time.�
Harry Hodgson Seated Nude Charcoal on paper 60 x 42 cm
“I’m interested in how the visual arts and medical sciences can intersect, and how illustration can be used to advance medicine. I am passionate about the study of human anatomy, and how this can be captured in a way that is aesthetically pleasing, but also fulfils an educational role for the audience. I am a junior doctor pursuing a career in Trauma & Orthopaedic surgery. Recently, I have contributed to publications in ‘Orthopaedics and Trauma’ journal on novel surgical approaches to knee surgery. I enjoy devising ways of drawing that allow for aiding the understanding of the reader, whilst also capturing the beauty and intricacy of the anatomy of the knee. Outside of medical illustration, I enjoy studying the human body in a less literal and precise way whilst working with charcoal - Seated Nude is an example of this.
Ottelien Huckin Reclining Woman Oil bar on canvas 90 x 120 cm
“When I draw or paint the female figure I often contemplate what it means to inhabit my own body. Entrenched in a long art historical discourse dictated by ‘the male gaze’, my practice aims to reveal the nude in an autonomous, empowered and sensual way by reinterpreting Old Master drawings with my own life drawing observations and intuition. Either in the immediacy of an encounter or in the fragility of a memory, drawing is a personal and authentic form of expression in my practice. Drawing directly onto canvas with oil bar, my practice seeks to capture the qualities of a preparatory sketch. It is an exploratory process, allowing each mark to land as an expressive catalyst for the next. The staining nature of the medium mimics that of charcoal traditionally used in the academic style of figure drawing. Using bold colour pigments I aim to reject the ideas of classical draughtsmanship and question the hierarchy of painting by raising drawing to canvas.”
Owain Hunt Ten day study (Self-Portrait) Oil on panel 36 x 28 cm
“I created this piece as a response to a recent spate of success/impending deadlines. I approached it with a new found urgency and confidence which translated into a more rapid working process. I like the context of the sitting to dictate which techniques I utilise. The planes/walls in the background are representative of the isolation of the studio during this time, with the enclosed space forcing the viewer to engage with the stare first and foremost.�
Anna Kenneally Forever Gothic Oil on canvas 160 x 110 cm
“Forever Gothic is a vivid dream, celebrating life, love and artistic inspiration. Posing as the couple from Grant Wood’s iconic American Gothic, the characters retain their static quality yet are free from the disillusionment and dislocation depicted in Wood’s original. The setting of the Forever Museum of Contemporary Art in Kyoto is painted from memory. Kusama’s motif of the giant pumpkin cascades down, a seamless meeting of the Western and Eastern canon.” Anna graduated from Bath Spa University in 2017, and has worked as a Painting Assistant for Damien Hirst. Shortlisted for The Ashurst Emerging Art Prize, The Carpenter’s Wharf Studio Residency, the Visual Art Open and ACS Studio prize.
Paulina Kwietniewska Who I am Charcoal, chalk and graphite on paper 70 x 50 cm
“In this self portrait, I took inspiration from the Pre-Raphaelites and how they portrayed women, capturing the nostalgia and emotional atmosphere of their drawings and paintings. I did this drawing in an evening when I was overwhelmed by the feeling of exhaustion and felt like I was losing my own self in the contradictions of art and motherhood and the many obligations and responsibilities that the latter brought to my life. It served a therapeutic purpose of looking into myself while exploring my face, of relearning about myself and redefining my identity after the change in my life course caused by motherhood.�
Suzon Lagarde Sketchbook (sleep) Oil, pastel and pencil on board 120 x 120 cm
Suzon likes the idea of potential and surprises. Starting from observation, she can’t help but drift away from her source material and wander in less controlled directions. Her pictures grow through layering, making and unmaking, turning the canvas around, finding tangents, and confusing planes. She is amused by the idea of making illusions to joyfully break them. In France she studied video editing (assembling and disassembling varied materials to spark unexpected connections) and modelling for video games (infinite universes from limited resources). Suzon fell in love with oils and painting from life a little after she moved to London in 2016, and she is currently studying Portraiture at the Art Academy.
Rebeka-Louise Lee Journal of More Places (2018-2019) Fountain pen, ink, ballpoint pen, alcohol pens and coloured pencil. 19 x 14 cm
“Each place is somewhere I pass or visit regularly. I started documenting the places I’d been after my epilepsy started affecting my memory. I often see flashing images of places whilst I’m having a seizure so this process of documentation has helped me differentiate what’s real from what I’ve seen in a seizure.”
Erin Lee In my Studio Oil and graphite on canvas 84 x 59 cm
“My self-portraits examine the vital role the mirror plays in the process of creating the self-portrait and how twentieth century psychoanalysts theorised that the mirror enabled a greater self-understanding. The mirror is traditionally used as a tool to suggest vanity in portraits of women by male artists. In self-portraiture, it acts as a medium to close the space between the artist and model, rejecting the male gaze and ascertaining my autonomy as an artist in the twenty-first century. Demonstrating an exchange from both viewer and artist, of seeing and being seen, these self-portraits aim to raise existential questions about the subject and modes of viewing. The studio, then, becomes a space in which the internal self is processed, revealed by the artist and ultimately starts posing questions to the viewer. My works in this exhibition centre on the notion of the studio as an extension of the self and a place where the internal becomes external. The definition of the self-portrait becomes blurred as more abstract themes of the self are raised.�
Tedi Lena Adele in the Studio Oil on canvas 120 x 100 cm
“This work is based on life studies I did during the invigilation of my Graduation Show at CASS. The studios, from time to time were full of visitors but some days were quiet, these were the moments when I did quick sketches while Adele was focused, working on her laptop. The light from the sun was coming through the middle window and the shape created by the rays over her legs and on the wooden floor, amazed me. What is the meaning of the painting? I’m leaving that to the viewer to decide.”
Checka Levi Morenos Portugal sketch no. 01 Olive Oil in the Sun Oil on board 30 x 24 cm
“My series is an intimate exploration of my personal life both in my private studio and in a place more remote and very close to my heart: the familial space of rural Portugal.� Checka Levi Morenos is a London based oil painter.
Celeste C da Luz The Untouchable Acrylic on canvas 150 x 120 cm
“The Untouchable is developed in a way that can only be experienced and seen completely by a viewer who is physically present. I intended to make an image that viewers do not see all at once and allow them to discover something new every time they look at it, through their imagination and personal experience.�
Max M-K A Dream of Heat Oil on canvas 92 x 62 cm
“This piece focuses on some kind of a rite or ritual that is happening where the forest meets the desert. There are lots of references to the life cycle and rebirth, notably the Ouroboros and the miniature burning palms. We as the viewer are seeing the crux of the event: the spirit leaves the skull, the woman’s head tilts skywards and something feels like it will appear between the monk’s clutching hands. The standing figure plays on Wu Tang Clan’s ‘monks of Shaolin’ motif and is modelled on Clan member Ol’ Dirty Bastard. There are allusions to contemporary disasters as well as arcane practices, fashion and a new reality.”
Yevhen Nahirnyy Alex Oil on canvas 59.5 x 79.5 cm
“Driven to compartmentalise the complex emotional ecosystem of myself and my sitters, my work revolves around the human condition - acting as a biographical investigation into fragility.�
Ramona Sharples If You’re Still Free Start Running Away Acrylic, collage and oil pastel on board 76 x 58 cm
“This piece addresses how contemporary British politics is considered more entertaining than serious by many young people and how this dissonance may be traversed. I wish for the discontent expressed by many to grow and translate into a more critical and materialistic understanding of how our political system hides the incompatibility of the interests of everyday people with the interests of our leaders. I live between West Wales, the Forest of Dean and London. I am currently transferring from a politics degree to fine art printmaking where I hope to continue my political education in a more meaningful way.”
Jyotsna Shelley Floating Baby Drypoint, softground etching and pencil on Zerkal Cream 18 x 13 cm
“My practice is made up of a multitude of projects concerning the dialogue between the presence of stereotypes and the state of experience. Currently, my focus is on stereotypes within the British Indian community and the displacement of culture from a dual heritage standpoint. This painting is from a series depicting the dialogue between ‘Forgotten Relations’. The etchings are fleeting images of family relations that are unknown to me or no more; in dialogue with paintings of Siddi women who are in touch with their origins and traditions but are unaccepted. Siddis are a tribe of people within India that originally descend from Africa and are greatly overlooked.”
Dominik Slowik Blaszak, Lubewo Mixed media 9.4 x 14 cm
“I am at the start of my artistic career, which means that my practice is constantly developing and changing. My approach to creating work is through storytelling, through which I aim to subvert conventional norms, such as the expectations surrounding gender. More recently, I have started to refer to my Polish heritage and to explore the merging of my memories of living both in Poland and the United Kingdom. Philosophy and political landscape are also points of reference in my work. This piece explores the themes of innocence and childhood naivety. It is a recollection of the time my twin brother and I were told by our cousin, that only some people would go to Heaven and the rest will go to Hell - ‘and with the way they are behaving they would surely go to Hell’. We were only five years old, but being raised with Christian values and surrounded by family that went to church every Sunday, what our cousin said had a big impact on us in that moment. We both started crying in our bunk beds. On the wall, watching us, was a painting of an angel.”
Anna Stevenson Fractured Light Oil on canvas 51 x 76 cm
“Contrasting the stark man-made structure cutting across the canvas against the fluid and more gestural depiction of nature below, the unusual composition seemed like a challenging puzzle. Like many past works, a train station was my key inspiration, always intrigued by its aura and busy energy, I aimed to decipher and decode its lines and tracks; manipulating and transforming elements in tone and shape, inquiring into the psyche of the space. In essence, my painting represents this process, aiming to rectify the urban space, translating its ambience into the visual. Though void of figures, my painting still deeply centres on people, in abstaining from the human form, I instead depict their presence through their creations and habitat. Ultimately, my canvas becomes a map and reflection of this process of understanding, the canvas becoming a documentation of my journey as opposed to being an endpoint in itself. Throughout this development, some areas of the canvas become instantly recognisable and others impossible to decipher their origins.�
What’s next for In the Studio? This is just the beginning of what In the Studio has to offer emerging artists. Year 2 of In the Studio will invite a new wave of young talent to become part of our artistic community. The focus will continue to be on professional development and mentoring, but we will also introduce new art residencies, as well as take young artists to schools and community spaces, helping them develop their own educational events, workshops and projects. And our Year 1 In the Studio alumni will be back to act as mentors. Donate to Year 2 of In the Studio and help us grow this free learning initiative at www.mallgalleries.org.uk/learning
Visitor information
Opening times 10am to 5pm daily during exhibitions, unless stated otherwise. Many of our exhibitions close early on the final day, please check our website for times before travelling. Admission £4, Free to Friends of Mall Galleries and under 25s. Concessions and group booking rates may apply. Please visit our website for details. Browse and Buy Art Support the artists and the gallery by purchasing painting, drawing and sculpture from the exhibitions or from our website.
Café and Bookshop An art bookshop and café are available to make your visit to Mall Galleries even more enjoyable.
Front cover image: Checka Levi Morenos Dancing a Jig (detail) Registered Charity No: 200048
Accessibility A platform lift is available for access to the galleries. Please be aware that The Mall is a ceremonial route and is sometimes closed to traffic. Underground Charing Cross, Embankment, Piccadilly Circus Buses 3, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 23, 24, 29, 53, 87, 88, 91, 139, 159, 176, 453 Public car park on Cockspur Street
Address Mall Galleries The Mall, London SW1 020 7930 6844 info@mallgalleries.com www.mallgalleries.org.uk
The national focal point for contemporary figurative art, and home to the Federation of British Artists (FBA)