NEWS
2020 - 22
Small Is Beautiful XL
Thu 24 Nov 2022 - Sat 7 Jan 2023
Flowers Gallery, 21 Cork Street, W1S 3LZ , London UK
Flowers Gallery presents the 40th edition of the annual Small is Beautiful exhibition, which takes place at the Cork Street gallery and online.
Flowers first introduced Small Is Beautiful in 1974, inviting a select group of contemporary artists working across various media to produce works at a fixed scale of no more than 7 x 9 inches. Since its inception, the show has provided a rare opportunity to showcase smaller pieces by internationally recognised names and discover new talents.
While earlier editions proposed suggested themes, for instance Homages in 1993, War & Peace in 2003 and Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Blue? in 2013, Small Is Beautiful is now conceived as an open invitation for artists to explore scale in relation to their own practice.
Image above: Reflections I & II (2022) 22 x 17.5 cm pencil on paper
Participating for the first time is Sean Scully, who this year also curated the group show Hidden UK, Hidden Ireland at Flowers Gallery Kingsland Road. Also exhibiting for the first time are interdisciplinary artist Adelaide Damoah, photographers Cody Cobb and Mark Duffy and painter Luke Silva. Returning artists include John Loker, who has participated in every edition, Amanda Faulkner who has shown with the gallery since the 1980s, Carol Robertson who first showed at Flowers in 1994 and Ishbel Myerscough who has been represented by the gallery since 2011. I will be showing the two brand new pencil drawings drawings Reflections I & II, beautifully framed in dark walnut frames by Jack Carvosso.
The Flux Review, Edition 8
Nov 2022 - March 2023
www.thefluxreview.com, UK
Daniele Mah is a ferociously talented photographer and enthusiastic interviewer, and in the 8th edition of The FLUX Review you can read her article Art in a Post-digital Reality where she is delving deep into methods, style and influences as well as providing a photographic journey through some of my newest works and studio environment.
The article is a seven page interview, and the 8th edition of the quarterly magazine can be bought through https://www.thefluxreview.com/store/ or in selected outlets until the end of March 2023.
Trinity Buoy Wharf
Drawing Prize & Tour 2022
The pencil drawing The Other has been shortlisted for the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2022. The exhibition of shortlisted work is open to the public until the 16th of October at the Trinity Buoy Wharf in London, whereupon it will travel to The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery, before it goes to ArtHouse Jersey.
The exhibition includes 113 drawings by 94 artists, including 21 working drawings from the fields of architecture and design. There is also an educational program - both in person and online - facilitated by Drawing Projects UK.
Submissions to the prize was made from 45 countries, with over 3,200 works. The exhibition is managed by Parker Harris, with the University of Dundee as the academic home for the project. The prize was initiated by Dr. Anita Taylor to champion drawing as art form in 1994, and is formerly known as the Jerwood Drawing Prize.
Installation shots of The Other (2022) 34.5 x 26 cm, pencil on paper at the Prize. Courtesy of Marie Harnett, London 2022
2022 SELECTION PANEL
Lucy Byatt (Director of Hospitafield), Danie Mellor (Artist), Isabel Seligman (Monument Trust Curator of Modern and Contemporary Drawing in the Department of Prints and Drawings, British Museum).
EXHIBITION AND TOUR
29 Sept - 16 Oct 2022
The Buoy Store, Trinity Buoy Wharf
64 Orchard Place, London, E14 0JY
26 Oct 2022 - 22 Jan 2023
The Willis Museum and Sainsbury Gallery (Hampshire Cultural Trust)
Willis Museum, Market Place, Basingstoke, RG21 7QD
9 Feb - 26 Mar 2023
ArtHouse Jersey, Ground Floor, Capital House, 8 Church Street, St. Helier, Jersey, JE2 3NN
Derwent Drawing Prize 2022
24 Feb - 6 Mar 2022
Gallery@OXO, Oxo Tower Wharf, Barge House St, London SE1 9PH, UK
7 - 11 Jun 2022
35 Rue Debelleyme, Paris, France
In February 22, two of the drawings from the Incriminations project were shortlisted for the Derwent Drawing Prize, and the exhibition opened in London on the 23rd of February in the Gallery@OXO.
THE SELECTION PANEL:
Katy Hessel (curator, art historian and author of The Story of Art Without Men), Paul Hobson (Director of Modern Art Oxford), Charmaine Watkiss (Artist).
The Derwent Art Prize was conceived in 2012 and aims to reward excellence by showcasing the very best artworks created in pencil by artists from around the world. 55 artists were shortlisted from over 6,100 entries. A selection of drawings, including Incriminations.
Incriminations IX (2019) 30 x 40 cm, pencil on paper with acrylic
Moments In Time
3 Mar 2022
Film Yard Ltd. & Glance Productions, 24a Church Lane, London, UK
Moments in Time is a short documentary about the life and practice of Kristian Evju, filmed and directed by Jonas Stockfleth and his team The Film Yard Ltd.
The documentary was filmed in the winter right before the pandemic lockdown in 2019/2020, both in the frosty valleys of Norway and in Evju’s Brixton studio in London. Kristian talks candidly growing up in rural Norway and how it has shaped him as an artist. The film was released in the spring of 2022.
Watch the trailer here, or the full length film below (18 minutes).
We Who Live Here
8 Aug - 21 Nov 2021
Veggli Skole, 3628 Veggli, Norway
Me som Bur Her is the title of a drawing workshop and a public commission initiated by the Norwegian artist Gunvor Nerved Antonsen. Translated from Norwegian it means We Who Live Here, and the idea was to allow 42 students aged 14-16 living in rural Norway to experience what it would be like to work on a project with a professional contemporary artist.
The project was supported by KORO, which is the branch of the Norwegian Arts Council that promotes and supports art in public spaces. Veggli municipality and the local school led by the Principal Gunn Hege Huslende and her team of extraordinary teachers.
My task was to facilitate three workshop events and the making of a large permanent commission for the local school reception area. I agreed to do this on the condition that the students would research, plan and execute the project alongside me.
In September 2021 we arranged for the first workshop via Zoom from my studio in London, to introduce me to the students and share how I typically work on projects. The students were tasked with gathering materials for our first drawing workshop. I wanted them to think about the title of our project, the place they live, and photos of the things that felt meaningful to them.
Image: The drawing workshop We Who Live Here, 2021 by Jan Storfossen for the Laagendalsposten newspaper.
In October 2021 we met physically at the school in Veggli for a drawing workshop, where we would transform the research they had gathered into sketches and ideas for the large, wall based commission.
The third workshop happened during the third week of November 2021. The students sketches had been brought back to the studio in London, where they were put together to form one large painting, and when I brought the finalised idea back to Veggli, we borrowed the school’s chemistry lab to paint it.
The students started painting on Monday the 15th, and worked in smaller groups over the next week. We finished the last segment of the tile-like grid of paintings right after lunch on Friday the 19th just in time to carry the 193 x 227 cm plywood plate across the school yard and install it in the reception hall of the school.
Image: Students painting from their sketches in the science lab and an installation shot of the finished commission.
(Photos by Kristian Evju, 2021)
Kristian Evju has been awarded The Figurative Art Prize 2021 by the Federation of British Artists for the painting Interventions IV.
The painting was selected by the jury for the inaugural exhibition of Figurative Art Now:
Jo Baring (Director of the Ingram Collection), Andrew Gifford - (Artist), Clare O’Brien (CEO Federation of British Artists), Barbara Walker (Artist), Jonathan Watkins (Director of the Ikon Gallery)
Interventions IV (2020) 60 x 100 cm, acrylic on paper on poplar and aluminium with perspex
Figurative Art Now
7 Jul - 20 Sept 2021
Federation of British Artists, The Mall, St. James's, London SW1Y 5AS, UK
Jonathan Watkins, Director Ikon Gallery (2021)
“His work appeals to me especially because of its smart combination of archival photography and geometric elements – a kind of collage that is clearly very meant but its meaning is teasingly unclear. Good looking and clever.”
Interventions IV was painted using photographic references from early 20th century mug shots from American and Australian penitentiaries for women, and this panel is part of a six painting series exploring both materiality and the transience of photographic narratives. Figurative Art Now features works by elected members of the FBA, prize-winners, regular exhibitors. Due to the pandemic, the 2021 edition can only be seen online, and it consists of almost 400 works exploring the breadth of representational painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking in the UK today. All the works are for sale, and the exhibition will be on until the 20th of September 2021.
Selfie - Drawing Workshop
9 Sept - 14 Oct 2021
Kulturskolen, Liavegen 20, 3630 Rødberg, Norway
In October 2020 I was invited to the beautiful Rødberg in Norway to run a series of drawing workshops for talented children ages 9 - 16. This was during the second lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic so I spent a few months in Norway working from my father’s studio.
The workshop SELFIE ran over a period of 4 weeks, commissioned by Nore & Uvdal municipality and the Norwegian Arts Council through an initiative called Kulturskolen, supporting and promoting the arts and helping talented children realise and develop some of their skills.
Incriminations -
Norwegian Arts Council
1 Jan - 31 Dec 2021
Kulturdirektoratet, Kulturrådet, Mølleparken 2, 0459 Oslo, Norway
At the start of 2020, just as the first lockdown was implemented, I received a letter from the Norwegian Arts Council informing me that my application for funding had been granted. I had been researching early 20th century mugshots from American and Australian penitentiaries and wanted to delve a bit deeper, including working with current prisoners to explore this strange moment between freedom and incarceration. The grant would give me a year’s salary to promote a more focused, less commercially driven approach. The stipend would lead to a whole new body of work, and a handful of new, exciting projects that I am still working on in 2023.
Interventions II (2020) 60 x 100 cm, acrylic on paper on wood, perspex and aluminium
Weighing In
17 Jun - 25 Sept 2020
C24 Gallery, 560 W 24th Street, New York, UK
The current resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement is pulling the lid off of the institutionalized racism and white supremacy that marginalizes so many people around the world. Amidst this massive, global cultural and social shift, C24 Gallery continues to deepen their ongoing commitment to a more inclusive world view, amplifying the voices of artists from marginalised communities and focusing on narratives that seek to disrupt notions of mainstream and “other.” It is in this spirit that they offer the online exhibition, Weighing In, selections from work they have recently exhibited in their physical gallery, work that both embodies and builds upon the values of the Black Lives Matter movement, in the hopes of stimulating new lines of thinking and re-orienting our perspective to allow for new ideas and new possibilities. The exhibition is currently only available online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I am participating with the mugshot drawing Incriminations VII (2019). You can see it here.
On the right: Incriminations VII (2019) 30x40 cm, pencil and acrylic on paper. Photo courtesy of C24 Gallery, 2020.
The Seventh View
The exhibition is a collaboration between ING Discerning Eye and C24 Gallery. My work was selected by Sir Tim Rice to show in the 2019 edition of ING Discerning Eye at the Mall Galleries late last year, and then shortlisted as one of the artists to show in New York this spring. The drawing Incriminations VII was selected alongside 22 other artist's work, and will be on show until Aril 23rd. This is the first time ING Discerning Eye will be shown in the US.
Photo from the private view of The Seventh View.
Photo courtesy of C24 Gallery, New York.
30 Jan - 23 Apr 2020
C24 Gallery, 560 W 24th Street, New York, UK
Bindings III (2019) 40x45 cm, pencil on paper.
11 Mar - 31 Apr 2020
Isai Museum of Art, Palace of Culture, Isai, Romania, UK
An exhibition based on ideas in Paul Celan’s poem ‘Mapesbury Road’, showcasing works on paper by 40 British and 40 Romanian artists in the Isai Art Museum in Romania.
Beyond Other Horizons is an exhibition brought together by artist curator Peter Harrap, writer and curator Anna McNay, and artist Florin Ungureanu. It is funded by the Romanian Cultural Institute.
A British Council symposium, in partnership with George Enescu, National University of the Arts Iași, will be held on 3rd March, from 12-2pm, and a private view on the same day at 6pm. Nigel Bellingham from the British Council will open the exhibition.
Beyond Other Horizons
Between 14th and 15th April 1968, the Romanian-born, German-language poet and translator Paul Celan wrote a verse, entitled Mapesbury Road, while staying with his aunt, a few streets away in north London. The poem, which he described as a ‘walking and a walked-up poem’, encapsulates his visit, but also brings together significant events from the time: the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr (4th April 1968) and the attempted assassination of the German Marxist sociologist and a political activist Rudi Dutschke in Berlin (11th April 1968), both episodes involving bullets to the head. The poem itself is a controversial elision of two events.
In this groundbreaking exhibition, 80 artists take us on a journey through the three main themes within the poem, walking, language and Otherness/the surreal.
BRITISH ARTISTS:
Emma Biggs, Day Bowman, Marius Von Brasch, Julian Brown, Judith Burrows, Simon Burton, Louise Cattrell, Simon Carter, Deb Covell, Kristian Evju, Susie Hamilton, Marcelle Hanselaar, Peter Harrap, Marguerite Horner, Barbara Howey, Phil King, Natasha Kissell, Matthew Krishanu, Katya Kvasova, Liane Lang, David Mabb, Enzo Marra, Alex McIntyre, Kate Montgomery, Suzanne Moxhay, Sarah Needham, Mandy Payne, Tom Palin, Andrew Palmer, Narbi Price, Ruth Philo, Freya Purdue, Shereen Rahwangi, Fiona Robinson, Gregory Kluger Smart, Mike Stoakes, Harriet Tarlo, Judith Tucker, Sean Williams, Simon Woolham, Vicky Wright.
ROMANIAN ARTISTS:
Felix Aftene, Cristian Alexii, Beatrice Anghelache, Vlad Aurel, Ana-Maria Barb, Marius Barb, Matei Bejenaru, Arina Bican, Mateias Bogdan, Bianca Boros, Radu Carnariu, Gabriela Drinceanu, Sabin Drinceanu, Sabina Drinceanu, Valentina Drutu, Liviu Epuras, Gheorghe Fikl , Julian Fron, Daniela Grapa, Róbert Köteles, Manuell Manastireanu, Ciprian Macovei, Cosmin Paulescu, Virgil Parghel, Ana Petrovici- Popescu, Sever Petrovici-Popescu, Sorin Purcaru, Flavia Pitis, Rodica Postolache, Laurian Popa, Mircea Roman, Diana Serghuitã, Cristian Sida, Atena-Eleana Simionescu, Ile Stefi, Liviu Suhar, Ondina Oana Turturica, Cristian Ungureanu, Florin Ungureanu, Florentina Voichi, Mihail Voicu, Mihai Zgondoiu.
Image credit: Installation shot of All the Days and Nights, courtesy of Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, 2020
All The Days and Nights
28 Feb - 9 May 2020
Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, 533 Old York Rd, London SW18 1TG, UK
"I leave you my portrait so that you will have my presence all the days and nights that I am away from you"
- Frida Kahlo
The latest group show at Kristin Hjellegjerde’s Wandsworth gallery in London brings together the work of 16 artists who are exploring portraiture through their different mediums. The exhibition’s title All the Days and Nights nods to a note written by Frida Kahlo accompanying a portrait that she gifted to her friends on the occasion of their marriage in which she references the power of a portrait to not only transcend time, but to also offer a kind of double, a ‘stand-in’ presence. Hailing from different backgrounds and artistic practices, the show’s participating artists explore contemporary forms of portraiture through representations of the self, the other and the imagined.
‘The idea of an image as avatar is familiar to us through social media profile pictures, passport photos or video games, and we have become used to feeling in control of how we present ourselves,’ says Norwegian artist Kristian Evju, who is currently working on a series of drawings and paintings reimagining early 20th century female mugshots. By transporting these women into new contexts, the artist liberates the individual from their assigned narrative, thus provoking discussion around the limitations of representation and also the cultural associations attached to certain types of imagery.
Combining abstract art, sculpture, figurative painting and collage, All the Days and Nights celebrates the diversity of human perception and expression. The works on display move across time and space, inviting us to contemplate the complexity of personal and collective identities.
ARTISTS
Radhika Agarwala, Chris Agnew, Juliette Mahieux Bartoli, Adam De Boer, Bouke De Vries, Rebecca Brodskis, Krisitan Evju, Haroun Hayward, Ruprecht Von Kaufmann, Kelechi Nwaneri, Nengi Omuku, Chistiane Pooley, Umar Rashid, Lee Simmonds, Rihcard Stone, Muhammad Zeeshan
Interventions V (2019) 23x18 cm, acrylic on paper on poplar and aluminium panel
Small Is Beautiful - 37th Edition
28 Nov 2019 - 4 Jan 2020
Flowers Gallery, 21 Cork St, W1S 3LZ, London, UK
Small is Beautiful was first established at Flowers Gallery in 1974, presenting works by selected contemporary artists at a fixed scale, each piece measuring no more than 7 x 9 inches (18 x 23 cm). This is the 37th edition of the show.
On display will be works by British and international artists from the Flowers Gallery stable alongside invited artists like me, offering a rare opportunity to purchase smaller pieces by well-known names and discover new talents working across a range of media.
ARTISTS
Jane Ackroyd, Jose Aguilo, Joeun Aatchim, Paul Andrews, Glenys Barton, Glen Baxter, Oliver Bedeman, H R Bell, Alison Boult, George Blacklock, Jonny Briggs, Belinda Cadbury, John Carter, Samantha Cary, Mark Cazalet, Sophie Charalambous, Aleah Chapin, Movana Chen, Julie Cockburn, Nathan Cohen, Charlotte Colbert, John Crossley, William Crozier, Ken Currie, Lynn Dennison, Boyd & Evans, Ewan Eason, Jane Edden, Charlotte Edey, Amanda Edgcombe, Bob Edgson, Elizabeth Enders, Mark Entwisle, Kristian Evju, Amanda Faulkner, Nancy Fouts, Anthony Frost, Naoki Fuku, Vanessa Garwood, Christopher Gee, Fiona Grady, Kate Giles, Mark Haddon, Friedemann Hahn, Maggi Hambling, Susie Hamilton, Mark Hanson, Rebecca Harper, Connie Harrison, Vicky Hawkins, Rachel Heller, David Hepher, Nicola Hicks, Carole Hodgson, Mark Houghton, Steve Ibbitson, Dianne Kaufman, Pru Kemball, Claerwen James, Lucy Jones, John Keane, Jinaun Kim, John Kirby, Tim Lewis, John Loker, Janelle Lynch, Shaun McCracken, John McLean, Ayumi Matsuba, Emily Mayer, Suchitra Mattai, Calum McClure, Dawnne McGeachy, Jennifer McRae, Ishbel Myerscough, Osman, Jiro Osuga, Claire Oxley, Freya Payne, Stuart Pearson Wright, William Pye, Duncan Pickstock, Stephanie Quayle, Carl Randall, Sinead Rice, Carol Robertson, Gill Rocca, Rhiannon Rebecca Salisbury, Nicolas Sanchez, Tai Shan Schierenberg, Aleksandra Stone, Trevor Sutton, Renny Tait, Sinta Tantra, Janet Taylor, Emma Thomas, Jason Thompson, Emma Turpin, Mary Webb, Susan Wilson and Rob Wyn Yates.