How Berntson Bhattacharjee Grew from Nomadic Roots into a Permanent London Home https://ift.tt/rbhfmqR

Lovisa Berntson Vit and India Bhattacharjee were orbiting the same social circles for years until their paths aligned in 2019, when Vit was studying for her MFA at Sotheby’s and Bhattacharjee was working at a private members club The Cultivist. The duo quickly became inseparable as each other’s art world confidants, and, in 2020, the two London-based Swedish gallerists seized an opportunity to stage an exhibition in Skänor, a beachside town on Sweden’s southern tip. They packed their car with work from 11 artists and set off, turning what started as an experimental idea into the beginning of a life-changing project.

Four years later, Berntson Bhattacharjee is celebrating its first anniversary at its 2,200-square-foot permanent location on Berners Street in London’s bustling Fitzrovia neighborhood. Evolving from its nomadic beginnings, the gallery has quickly become an exciting player in London’s vibrant gallery scene, known for its program of young, buzzy artists.

Coinciding with this milestone, Berntson Bhattacharjee is presenting “Modus Operandi,” a solo exhibition by Yulia Iosilzon—the artist with whom Vit and Bhattacharjee hosted the gallery’s inaugural solo show in Stockholm back in 2021.

“For every show that we do, every project that we do with an artist, we want it to be important for them in their development and practice and not just something for the sake of it,” Bhattacharjee said. “We want everything to feel like a milestone for them.”

Iosilzon’s current exhibition highlights why Berntson Bhattacharjee chose to establish its permanent space in such a large venue. The gallery, repurposed from an old garage, offers an expansive canvas that complements the pair’s vision of transformative art installations. The space has been transformed to evoke the feel of a theater, with fabric drapes creating a curtain-like effect around the walls. The cornerstone piece, Shifting Through, Towards the Light, a three-square-meter mosaic made from small ceramic pieces, can be found at the end of the gallery.

Shifting Through, Towards the Light, 2024
Yulia Iosilzon
Berntson Bhattacharjee

This choice of space also derives from Vit and Bhattacharjee’s early days as a nomadic project, where risk-taking was an integral foundation. By staging their first show, “Staying Sane,” in Stockholm in the wake of the 2020 pandemic, the gallerists took a leap of faith. The show featured works from artists including Mary Stephenson and Katy Stubbs and immediately proved successful—for the gallerists and the artists alike. The show also exemplified Vit and Bhattacharjee’s ability to present emerging artists to audiences that are both receptive and enthusiastic, a curatorial throughline that runs from the inception of the nomadic project until today.

“We realized how much impact something so small actually could have,” said Vit of the Stockholm show. The success—and enthusiasm—sparked by their first exhibition led to a series of shows over three years, hosted in venues such as the 19th-century Pump House in London’s Battersea Park and various locations across Stockholm, Skänor, and Falsterbo in Sweden. Each of these moments spurred the pair toward establishing their permanent location.

One That Got Away, 2023
Georg Wilson
Berntson Bhattacharjee

A Constellation of Lovers, 2023
Sola Olulode
Berntson Bhattacharjee

Last April, Vit and Bhattacharjee celebrated the official opening of the brick-and-mortar Berntson Bhattacharjee with a solo exhibition featuring new works by Gen Z artist Georg Wilson in London, marking another significant milestone for both the artists and the gallery itself. The gallerists first worked with Wilson, whose work is defined by her mystical, folkloric approach to her figures and lush landscapes, years ago during a London nomadic group exhibition, “The Red Room.” With the permanent space, the gallerists are doubling down on their dedication to their artists’ careers—both in London and internationally.

“It’s hard to grow doing the pop-up model,” said Bhattacharjee. “In order to apply to art fairs, you often need a permanent space and just a base where people can come and see you, and you can build those relationships properly. We’re signaling that we’re here to stay, and we’re not just going to pop up and then leave and disappear. We really have a very long-term vision for our gallery.”

House 1, 2023
Anastàzie Anderson
Berntson Bhattacharjee

The choice of Fitzrovia resonated with the gallery’s ethos of situating art near its audiences. As a nomadic project, the gallerists learned how to select hotspots where their artists would find visibility, and Fitzrovia’s vibrant scene felt like a natural fit.

“All of our previous pop-ups had been in quite central or conveniently located areas, such as Earl’s Court, where a lot of our collectors are based, South Kensington at Cromwell Place, Battersea Park, and very central places in Stockholm, so it made sense for us to keep that same—to keep it central,” Bhattacharjee said.

Reasonable Doubt, 2024
Yulia Iosilzon
Berntson Bhattacharjee

Corner, 2023
Preslav Kostov
Berntson Bhattacharjee

Now, after a strong first year, Vit and Bhattacharjee have every intention to keep growing, especially as the artists they work with continue to earn recognition. “The idea is that we will grow as our artists grow,” Bhattacharjee said. It’s currently planning a solo presentation of 29-year-old artist Jessie Stevenson at Stockholm’s Market Art Fair. This summer, the gallery will host a group exhibition, “Smörgårdsbord,” featuring the work of six prominent Nordic artists, including Baldur Helgason and Johan Deckman.

With a physical home base, the sky is the limit for the gallerists and their artists. “We don’t see any limitation,” she added.

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Indigenous artists, including Jeffrey Gibson, join new steering council of the Forge Project. https://ift.tt/ltNGEID

The Forge Project, an initiative dedicated to decolonial arts and Indigenous culture, has announced its official transition to nonprofit status and its launch of a new organizational structure. Under the guidance of executive director Candice Hopkins of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, the project has enlisted a group of prominent Indigenous artists and leaders, including Jeffrey Gibson (who is representing the United States in the 60th Venice Biennale), to form its new Indigenous Steering Council (ISC).

The ISC will consist of seven distinguished members from various nations, including chair Kerry Swanson (Michipicoten First Nation) and vice-chair Sky Hopinka (Ho-Chunk and Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians). Other members include Monique Tyndall (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans), G. Peter Jemison (Seneca Nation), Jasmine Neosh (Menominee), and Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora Nation). This group will drive the organization’s mission to amplify Indigenous voices in national conversations about art and culture.

“In bringing together the Indigenous Steering Council, we sought to represent a plurality of Native voices whose work intersects with Forge’s mandate and initiatives as they provide high-level leadership and vision for the organization,” Hopkins told Artsy. “As Forge continues to create new platforms and infrastructure for supporting Native artists, it made sense to work with artists who are already engaged with Forge to participate in our new governance structure, including Sky Hopinka, Jeffrey Gibson, and G. Peter Jemison.”

Forge Project operates from a 60-acre campus in the Mahicannituck (Hudson River) Valley, on land historically belonging to the Moh-He-Con-Nuck people. Founded in 2021 by Becky Gochman and Zach Feuer, the organization supports approximately 300 Indigenous artists, working to cultivate their careers and audiences.

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Turner Prize announces diverse, women-heavy shortlist for 40th edition. https://ift.tt/gjbiFUS

Tate Britain has announced Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur, and Delaine Le Bas as the shortlisted artists for this year’s Turner Prize, among the most prestigious awards in contemporary art. An exhibition of their work will open on September 25th and run through February 16, 2025, at the Tate Britain—the first time in six years it has been hosted at the Central London museum. The shortlist reflects the diversity of Britain’s contemporary art scene: three out of four are women artists, and all are from marginalized communities.

“All four of them make work that is full of life. They show how contemporary art can fascinate, surprise, and move us, and how it can speak powerfully of complex identities and memories, often through the subtlest of details,” said Alex Farquharson, director of Tate Britain and chair of the Turner Prize jury. “In the Turner Prize’s 40th year, this shortlist proves that British artistic talent is as rich and vibrant as ever.”

Pio Abad is nominated for his solo exhibition “To Those Sitting in Darkness,” which is open until September 8th at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The artist’s drawings, etchings, and sculptures explore themes of cultural loss and colonial histories that reflect his upbringing in the Philippines.

Claudette Johnson is nominated for her solo exhibition “Presence” at the Courtauld in London, which closed in January. A founding member of the 1980s Black British Art movement, Johnson is noted for her pastel, gouache, and watercolor portraits of Black women and men. The artist was also nominated for her solo show “Drawn Out” at Ortuzar Projects, New York, which concluded last April.

Jasleen Kaur is nominated for her solo exhibition “Alter Altar,” which closed last October at the Tramlines in Glasgow. The artist uses everyday objects such as her family’s belongings and a vintage Ford Escort to create sculptures that, in the show, were animated by sound compositions.

Delaine Le Bas is nominated for her presentation “Incipit Vita Nova. Here Begins The New Life/A New Life Is Beginning” which ran until last September at Secession, Vienna. In the show, Le Bas transformed the gallery into an immersive performance environment that features painted fabrics, costumes, and sculptures, drawing on the history of the Roma people, combined with an interest in mythologies, and addressing loss and renewal, spurred by the death of her grandmother.

The winner of the Turner Prize will be announced on December 3rd at the Tate Britain, and the winner will receive £25,000 (around $31,000), with £10,000 awarded to the other shortlisted artists. Previous winners of the prize have included Lubaina Himid, Oscar Murillo, and Veronica Ryan.

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7 Collectors on Their Highlights From the Venice Biennale 2024 https://ift.tt/q5URpWY

The global art world descended on Venice last week for the opening of the 2024 Biennale de Arte, also known as the Venice Biennale. The weather might have been patchy throughout, but the activity across the city was consistently abuzz during almost every waking (and unwaking) hour. The sheer number of parties, events, openings, and shows meant that FOMO was an unavoidable feeling amongst those with even the most packed agendas.

From the expansive main exhibition “Foreigners Everywhere” to the sprawling national pavilions and satellite shows dotted around the city, the “Olympics of the art world” is overflowing with artistic activity and discoveries.

As the Biennale’s preview week concluded at the end of last week, seven collectors shared their highlights with Artsy, along with what makes the Venice Biennale such a special event.

Patrizia Sandretto Re Rebaudengo

Founder and president of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo

When arriving in Venice, you immediately perceive its innate connection to art from every era. I have always considered it a place beyond common imagination, capable of paying special attention to the magic of creation. There is a sentence from the introduction to the catalogue Sogni/Dreams—which collects the dreams of 100 artists and was published by Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo on the occasion of the 48th Venice Biennial in 1999—that I always find perfect to describe its atmosphere: “Venice…contains, more than any other city, the reality of dreams. It is a city that wants to survive transforming the past into a proposition for the future, nostalgia into necessity, time into activity.”

Since the 1990s, I have not missed one [Venice Biennale], be it Art, Cinema, or Architecture, and through Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, I have supported the Biennale, Italian pavilion, and other projects. This year, the Fondazione proudly supported Sol Calero’s “Pabellón Criollo” in the Giardini. This structure reflects upon relevant themes for our times, such as cultural cross-pollination and the topic of reuse.

Additionally, we were delighted to present “Pinky Pinky ‘Good’: San Giacomo’s Leap into Tomorrow,” a performance exhibition by Eun-Me Ahn on Isola di San Giacomo in the Venetian lagoon. Curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist, the project by the Korean artist, dancer, and choreographer [was] conceived for Isola di San Giacomo in the Venice Lagoon, the third venue of Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo that is set to open to the public in 2026. “Pinky Pinky ‘Good’” is a collective and transformative ritual for blessing, inspired by Korean shamanic tradition. Eun-Me Ahn invoked the spirits of the past of the island, honoring its new existence as a place for contemporary art.

Elsewhere, I also found Pierre Huyghe’s exhibition at Palazzo Grassi and Berlinde De Bruyckere’s show at the Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore to be captivating. I’ve been following De Bruyckere’s work for quite some time now, and she previously had a solo exhibition, “Aletheia” in 2019, at the Fondazione in Turin. I’m fortunate to have several of her works in my collection.

I also thought that Wael Shawky’s Egyptian pavilion was brilliant and enjoyed Guglielmo Castelli’s exhibition at Palazzetto Tito, an artist I have been following closely. The Biennale is the perfect venue to discover new, incredible artworks and to start imagining new collaborations.

Beatrice Bulgari

President of Fondazione In Between Art Film

I haven’t missed an edition of the Venice Biennale for I don’t know how many years. For me, it is an essential event in the international art calendar. For the past four editions with Fondazione In Between Art Film, I have supported the central exhibition and co-produced works, as in the case of the video work by Karimah Ashadu, Machine Boys, which is installed this year at the Corderie as part of the beautiful exhibition “Foreigners Everywhere.” For collectors and patrons, the Venice Biennale is a unique opportunity to not only get a truly global vision of the current state of art, but to also support works that everybody will see.

This edition of the Biennale features many artists who use moving images in masterful ways. I was fascinated by the work that Wael Shawky conceived for the Egyptian pavilion; he has a unique voice on the international scene, and it was a lucky coincidence to be able to see his solo exhibition at Palazzo Grimani in Venice at the same time. I didn’t want to leave John Akomfrah’s British pavilion—he has influenced so many generations of artists that today are producing vital works. I was also touched by Yael Bartana’s filmic contribution to the German pavilion.

I would like to praise Adriano Pedrosa’s effort in decentralizing our gaze in such an elegant and passionate way: His Biennale is an exhibition to see and revisit and from which I am sure we will all learn a lot.

Valeria Schäfer Curina and Marco Curina

Gallerist and collectors

We’ve been attending the Venice Biennale since 2013 (we actually met each other here) and return because of the quantity and variety of things we can see. One amazing pavilion for us was the German pavilion, which included works by Yael Bartana: We really liked her approach and techniques, especially her video and sound installations. Another highlight was seeing the works of Mexican artist Barbara Sanchez-Kane that really grabs your attention. We are familiar with her beautiful drawings and paintings, and the Biennale also included her sculpture work.

We highly recommend seeing the Swiss pavilion, specifically works by Guerreiro Do Divino Amor. The pavilion focuses on national heritage, and his works contain a lot of baroque expressions, making viewers question the topics of heritage and national identities.

Finally, we discovered the works of Agnes Questionmark, a transgender artist. Seeing this artist’s works made us realize that transgender artists are underrepresented in our collection. After seeing this Biennale, we really want to focus more on transgender artists and have more representation within our collection.

Dr. Basel Dalloul

Founder and chairman of the Ramzi and Saeda Dalloul Art Foundation

This [is] my fourth consecutive time, coming to the Biennale as both a collector and jury member of the Lebanese pavilion. This year, my foundation also has the honor of having 10 pieces in Adriano Pedrosa’s show “Foreigners Everywhere.”

As far as the appeal [of the Venice Biennale] to collectors is concerned…serious collectors couldn’t find a more concentrated grouping of global art in one place and of the quality that makes it to the Biennale.

As a collector, I was very impressed with Pedrosa’s choice of artists from the Global South, including but not limited to, Samia Halaby, Wael Shawky, Manal AlDowayan, Mounira Al Solh, Issac Chong Wai, Susanne Wagner, Shalom Kufakwatenzi, Claudia Alarcòn, Liverpool Badi, Nour Jouda, Aydeé Rodríguez López, Judith Lauand, Mohamed Chebaa, Mohamed Melehi, Tahia Halim, Fred Graham, Frieda Toranza Jaeger, and Yinka Shonibare, as well as several of whom I didn’t know and was impressed by.

The most impressive off-site venues were those of AlUla, where Ahmed Mater’s model for his upcoming “mirage” installation was mind-blowing; and Qatar’s cinema installation was also impressive. As far as museum shows were concerned, Willem de Kooning’s show at the Gallerie dell'Accademia was my favorite.

Oliva Sartogo

Co-founder of VIV Arts

I have been attending the Biennale since I was a child, as we used to come as a family with my parents. When I was 21, I was blown away by the French pavilion, Anri Sala’s Ravel Ravel and Unravel (2013). I was into electro music at the time and the work was such a revelation, a combination of movement and melody.

The Biennale is a unique moment, as you discover artists from all around the world through the eyes of curators. The context and the pavilions’ architecture are also such a great limitation. Artists usually express themselves in a strong way and it’s always very essential to their practice. I usually fall in love with an artist’s practice during the Biennale and then look at their works in their galleries and museums.

[At the] Egyptian Pavilion by Wael Shawky, I loved his world, an immersive narrative that references history and literature. Drama 1882, created for the Biennale, is a filmed rendition of an original musical play, exploring Egypt’s nationalist Urabi revolution in the 19th century against imperial and colonial influence.

Also, Julie Merethu’s work on the second floor of Palazzo Grassi is breathtaking: strong, dynamic, and powerful. Christian Nyampeta’s video, an exhibition with eight new video installations commissioned and produced by Fondazione In Between Art Film on the occasion of the Biennale Arte 2024, is another highlight. The video features Nyampeta talking about the Rwandan genocide in an outstandingly poetic way.

Edoardo Monti

Collector and founder of Palazzo Monti

This is my sixth consecutive year coming to the opening of the Biennale. There’s still nothing quite like Venice. You have so many curators and artists and gallerists in a very small city, and you bump into each other without making any plans to.…It’s getting better year by year and you can really immerse yourself in a 360-degree cultural experience.

I myself do tons of research online on Artsy, Instagram, and other websites, [but] there’s nothing like visiting someone in person and seeing the work in real life. I travel to other fairs, but there’s still nothing quite like Venice. It’s an investment of time that gets paid back within minutes of being on the island.

I really enjoyed the Nordic pavilion [which joins together Sweden, Finland, and Norway]. The architecture of the space—concrete and light building with trees growing inside—is just wonderful, and the concept of the pavilion is beautiful. It’s almost like a cultural embassy built and run by each country. You can see a reflection of how much they care about the arts back home.

At the International Art Exhibition, three artists who stood out were Bertina Lopes, Maria Taniguchi, and Nena Saguil. Another highlight was going to Palazzo Pisani Moretta. After visiting the Nigerian pavilion, we went across the Grand Canal to Palazzo Pisani Moretta [for dinner], which was simply amazing. A very peculiar element of the palazzo is that it’s the only one still officially allowed to be completely candle-lit—there’s no electricity in the palace. Any light that you may find that’s artificial is battery-powered. The entire dinner was simply amazing.

Alain Servais

Investment banker and collector

This year’s Biennale is a very good edition. It’s my 13th time in attendance, and this year is one of the best. For me, the Venice Biennale is obligatory to attend to get a feel for what the situation currently is in the art world.

In my opinion, the art world is a machine where networking is very important. As a collector, coming to the opening week allows me to have a great understanding of the artworks. For example, I had a chance to tour the Saudi Arabian pavilion with the curator. It [provides an] understanding of the work which you could not replicate in any way. I also spoke to curators from China, Indonesia, Mexico, Germany, and so on. It’s an opportunity to meet all those people that you cannot always meet regularly around the world.

It’s clear that the pavilions at the Biennale have specific themes this year. The first theme I noticed was extractivism, which is the removal of natural resources, which has a direct link to colonialism. The scars of extractivism don’t go away, and the consequence of extractivism is, of course, the destruction of the environment. There is an environmental question about what will happen to the future in general.

Many of the pavilions also highlight the theme of capitalism. In the current state of the world, we don’t really know how long we can continue with the inequalities between the wealthy and the less wealthy.

There is also a strong emphasis on sound and scent. I’ve never seen this much focus on sound. A lot of pavilions are very sound- and scent-based. The Korean pavilion is 100% scent, but it’s not only there. Many pavilions seem to have placed a focus on physical sensations rather than just the visual.

So many artists stood out to me this year, many of whom whose work touches on the themes I mentioned. In the Spanish pavilion, Sandra Gamarra’s work is very striking. Her works examine Spain’s colonial past and the ongoing repercussions of that. In “Foreigners Everywhere,” I was drawn to Gabrielle Goliath’s work. Her installations and performances look at the frameworks of oppression and inequality. And then, there was Daniel Otero’s very striking video installations that look at multidirectional migrations. There is such a long list of incredible artists at this year’s Biennale.

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Yoko Ono receives the Edward MacDowell Medal. https://ift.tt/XhqMlUs

Yoko Ono has been honored with the Edward MacDowell Medal, a prestigious lifetime achievement award presented by the artist residency program MacDowell. The annual accolade, named after the late American composer, celebrates figures who have made outstanding contributions to American culture. Previous recipients have included luminaries such as Stephen Sondheim and Toni Morrison.

The award celebrates Ono’s contributions to art, film, and music spanning her seven-decade career. At 91, Ono is noted for her role in the avant-garde Fluxus movement during the 1960s and her collaborations with John Lennon, including songs like “Give Peace a Chance” or “Imagine.” Moreover, Ono’s contributions to performance and installation work pushed the boundaries of contemporary art, often using her work to forward feminist and social activism. Her work has been the subject of several major museum and gallery exhibitions, most recently at London’s Tate Modern, on view until September 1st.

“There has never been anyone like her; there has never been work like hers,” said MacDowell board chair Nell Painter in a statement Sunday, as reported by the Associated Press. “Over some seven decades, she has rewarded eyes, provoked thought, inspired feminists, and defended migrants through works of a wide-ranging imagination. Enduringly fresh and pertinent, her uniquely powerful oeuvre speaks to our own times, so sorely needful of her leitmotif: Peace.”

Ono will not attend the award ceremony this July at the MacDowell campus in New Hampshire. Instead, her music manager, David Newgarden, will accept the medal on her behalf.

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Why Do Artists Keep Painting Self-Portraits? https://ift.tt/mXrZxJB

Self Portrait with Half Smile, 2024
Rosalind Nashashibi
GRIMM

Sarah, 2024
Louise Giovanelli
GRIMM

Self-portraits are one of the most popular and enduring forms of art. Most famously, artists such as Vincent van Gogh and Frida Kahlo repeatedly reimagined themselves in paint, resulting in iconic images. Despite the invention of smartphones, which make it possible to capture and view our own likeness in an instant, many artists are still drawn to self-portraiture. Two new group shows explore the power of this subject in the contemporary age: “Self-Portraits” at GRIMM’s New York and Amsterdam spaces, and “Art of the Selfie” at the National Museum of Cardiff. But what do artists hope to capture when they depict themselves?

“The self-portrait remains as relevant today as it has been throughout art history,” said Jorg Grimm, in an interview ahead of the “Self-Portraits” opening. He has curated the gallery’s New York (on view through May 4th) and Amsterdam (through May 25th) shows with a mix of 22 artists, including Louise Giovanelli, Anthony Cudahy, Anj Smith, and Arisa Yoshioka. “The psychological reflection and emotional approach needed to create a self-portrait in the classical sense, as opposed to a mere photographic image, is what makes the works in the exhibition so special,” he said.

For the dual show, Grimm invited artists to bring their own distinct style to self-portraiture. Throughout “Self-Portraits,” the exhibitors meticulously examine their appearance in imaginative ways. In New York, Philip Akkerman’s self-image warps over time: from an angular but relatively realistic painting of himself with an intense gaze (Painting 1992 No.65, 1992) to a jagged, splintered self-portrait that probes beneath the veneer of his face (Painting 2016 No.85, 2016). Charles Avery’s humorously named Untitled (Self-portrait of the Artist as a young Rectangle) (2024) is formed from limited lines, but aptly captures the essence of his specific physicality. Elsewhere, Neo Matloga paints himself over and over in watery ink on paper, showing the ever-changing nature of the human face and presenting an array of different expressions that look as though they could wash away at any moment.

Some of the exhibitors have created a self-portrait for the first time, including British painters Louise Giovanelli and Tommy Harrison, who both draw heavily from art history. German artist Matthias Weischer hasn’t explored the subject since he was a teenager. Many of his current works depict empty rooms, within which human activity is heavily suggested, but the body is rarely shown. The invitation to paint a self-portrait, he said, provided an interesting problem-solving mission for him, enabling him to experiment with how the human figure can be brought into the pictorial space.

“In my youth, between the ages of 15 and 18, I almost exclusively made self-portraits,” Weischer said, in an interview with Artsy. “Now, I have taken up the subject again and looked for a suitable form. Today, my figure is more stylized and fits into the series of objects that fill the space. I was worried for a long time that a single figure would draw too much attention to the picture, but perhaps I have defused that somewhat with this rather flat approach.”

Weischer has painted Untitled (2024) for GRIMM’s Amsterdam exhibition, which shows the artist blending into the space around him, as though nervously checking whether he can come into full view. In the piece, his bare legs are fully visible; his body is entirely hidden against a bright blue wall; and his simplified facial form with giant eyes seems to be stuck between hiding and revealing. This is not a realistic likeness, but it captures the artist’s uncertainty about how comfortably he belongs in his own works, and calls to mind the decisions that every self-portraitist makes about the aspects of their face and body that they emphasize or conceal.

Untitled (Self-portrait of the Artist as a young Rectangle), 2024
Charles Avery
GRIMM

Scottish painter Gabriella Boyd has a semi-abstract work in the exhibition, Crimscott Street (2024). In the work, the artist depicts her head apparently lying horizontally as her body blurs into an abstract background. For Boyd, self-portraiture reflects a coming-together of external likeness, internal psychology, and memory. “I think of self-portraits as a record in time,” she said. “It’s almost like a flag in the sand in an attempt to catch that one version of self or place.…When I’m painting, I often tune into a sensory experience or psychological space, depicting with a sense of something that’s just out of optical reach.”

In Cardiff, “Art of the Selfie” (on view through January 26, 2025) looks to the roots of self-portraiture, with works by artists such as Rembrandt and Francis Bacon shown alongside contemporary names from Bedwyr Williams to Anya Paintsil. The museum also features Van Gogh’s iconic Portrait of the Artist (1887), which is on loan from the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. “The human impulse for visual self-representation is not a new thing,” said Lowri Williams, the National Museum of Cardiff’s head of exhibitions and design. “Artists have always made self-portraits. During his short career, Van Gogh made at least 35. We’re pleased to be displaying a wide range of different methods and artistic approaches.”

The show features numerous non-painterly examples of artists depicting themselves combined with other figures. Bedwyr Williams’s photographic self-portrait Bard Attitude (2005) shows the artist in typically humorous style dressed up in a Welsh bard’s robes, with a long white beard—a characterful aspect that is very much himself while also playing a performative role through costume. Paintsil also takes on another persona in her self-portrait in the show, a textile piece in which she presents herself as Blodeuwedd, a Welsh mythological female figure who is formed from flowers. The portrait is created using traditional textile techniques, drawing together both her Welsh and Ghanaian heritage.

“Art of the Selfie” explores the similarities and differences of self-portraits and selfies, concluding that both are ultimately attempts to show who we are as people. “Selfies have become a popular method of self-expression and individualism,” said Lowri Williams. “Self-portraits are about much more than physical appearance. They can tell us not just what the artist looked like, but about their life, environment, even their state of mind.”

Across both shows, artists can be seen in an intimate dialogue with themselves, poring over the various lines, planes, and poses that make up their appearance and physicality. For some, such as Matloga’s multiple readings of his own face and Akkerman’s early works, this means attempting to capture the likeness of the face as others may see it. For others, from Paintsil to Boyd, it’s about finding a specific visual aspect that is unmistakably of themselves, and interpreting it with abstract lines or playful costume. One thing’s for certain: The artistic fascination with self-reflection is as rich and thriving as it has ever been.

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Blek le Rat breaks auction record at Phillips’ “New Now” in London. https://ift.tt/Z9X3YvF

French street artist Blek le Rat reached a new auction record at Phillips last Friday at the auction house’s “New Now: Modern & Contemporary Art” sale in London. Tango (2021) sold for £95,250 ($118,472), exceeding the artist’s previous auction record of €70,200 ($74,748), which was set in 2016. It was also the eighth most expensive work from the 160-lot sale, which totaled £3.4 million ($4.3 million), with an 86% sell-through rate by lot.

The sale was led by two sculptures, Wade Guyton’s U Sculpture (V. 5) (2007), and Invader’s Bruce Lee 3D (2015), which both sold for £203,200 ($252,740) apiece. The other top lots from the sale are as follows:

• Eddie Martinez’s Open Ocean Mind (2020) sold for £127,000 ($157,963).
• Francis Alÿs’s Untitled (1995) sold for £120,650 ($150,064).
• Juan Genovés’s Mirada al horizonte (2008) sold for £120,650 ($150,064).
• Richard Hambleton’s Horse and Rider (2012) sold for £101,600 (126,370).

As well as Blek le Rat, three artists also achieved new auction records at the sale. These were as follows:

• Leonard Baby’s Medicine Cabinet (2022) sold for £24,130 ($30,013).
• Christopher Page’s Globe (2019) sold for £40,640 ($50,548).
• Yves Zurstrassen’s 180327 Still Life (2018) sold for £53,340 ($66,344).

from Artsy News https://ift.tt/3MQTFDA