Timothy Taylor now represents Alice Tippit

September 18, 2024

Timothy Taylor has announced the representation of Alice Tippit. The Chicago-based artist will continue to be represented by Nicelle Beauchene in New York and Patron in Chicago.

In her canny, hard-edged paintings, Tippit plays with colour, shape, repetition, symmetry, figure, and ground to create images whose meaning remains unfixed. She paints vibrant, minimal arrangements of geometries and forms drawn from the art historical traditions of portraiture, still life, and landscape, including flora and fauna as well as architectural and pastoral elements. Tippit’s work suggests the expansive worlds of desire and identification that underlie how meaning is made.

The gallery will present a solo exhibition of new works by the artist next month at the ADAA’s The Art Show in New York.

photo: Evan Jenkins

New Fourth Plinth Commission by Teresa Margolles unveiled

On 18 September 2024, the new Fourth Plinth Commission Mil Veces un Instante (A thousand times an Instant) by Teresa Margolles was unveiled on the Fourth Plinth.

Mil Veces un Instante is made up of plaster casts of the faces of 726 transexual, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The casts were made in Mexico City and Juárez, Mexico; and London. She worked closely with community groups across Mexico and the UK including Micro Rainbow and QUEERCIRCLE. The casts have been created by applying plaster directly onto the faces of participants, meaning that as well as recording their features the plaster is infused with their hair and skin cells.

Audience Survey Draw Winner!

September 17, 2024

We are delighted to announce a winner of the draw from our recent GalleriesNow Audience Survey.

Out of over 400 entries, a winner has been selected at random and sent a code to redeem their £100 GalleriesNow voucher.

We extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who took the time to share their insights - your feedback is crucial in helping us refine and enhance the platform, and making more art accessible to more people.

We are using the valuable input to develop and implement enhanced features designed to improve your overall experience. Exciting updates are on the horizon so please stay tuned for announcements about the new features.

Congratulations again to our winner (who wishes to stay anonymous), and thank you all for contributing!

David Lewis joins Hauser & Wirth as Senior Director

September 13, 2024

Hauser & Wirth has announced that David Lewis has joined the gallery as a Senior Director in New York City. Lewis comes to Hauser & Wirth after having run his own eponymous gallery for over a decade, with a first location on Eldridge Street on the Lower East Side and a subsequent space on Walker Street in Tribeca. David Lewis Gallery attracted critical praise for its rigorous program focused equally on solo presentations showcasing emerging artists and incisive theory-driven group exhibitions, and for revising the canon via thoughtful attention to under-recognized older artists and historical figures. Prominent among those Lewis has championed are pioneering feminist artist Mary Beth Edelson (1933 – 2021) and celebrated Alabama-based expressionist painter and sculptor Thornton Dial (1928 – 2016).

Lewis is widely admired for his scholarly and sensitive approach to modern and contemporary cultural narratives, and his fresh interpretations of them. For example, with the exhibition ‘Dial / Hammons / Rauschenberg,’ Lewis was first to show Dial, an autodidact and product of the Jim Crow South, in context with famous art titans, proposing the trio as true peers. A specialist in the oeuvre of Francis Picabia (1879 – 1953), Lewis presented ‘Everyone Loves Picabia’ in 2023. Effectively recapping the conversations that had informed his gallery’s ethos and programming over the years, this show promulgated the value of seeking and sharing new connections between emerging and historical art.

Before opening the gallery in 2013, David Lewis lived and worked in Paris, where he completed a Ph.D. from The Graduate Center, CUNY, on the career of Francis Picabia, titled ‘Francis Picabia and the Problem of Nihilism.’ While in Europe, he contributed regularly to prominent international art magazines such as Artforum and Frieze, and published extensively, including essays on Philip Guston, Henri Matisse and Sturtevant, among many others.

photo: Axel Dupeux

David Zwirner announces co-representation of Sasha Gordon with Matthew Brown

September 5, 2024

David Zwirner is pleased to announce the co-representation of New York–based painter Sasha Gordon with Matthew Brown. David Zwirner will debut a new painting by Gordon at Frieze London, and a solo exhibition of the artist’s work will be on view in September 2025 at the gallery’s 19th Street location in New York.

In her luminous and hyperrealistic paintings, Gordon often renders her own likeness, conveying the self and its many guises through translucent layers of oils in electric hues. Executed with technical precision and rigor, the artist’s visceral compositions treat her own corporeal form as a kind of unorthodox avatar that communicates subjective, psychological experience. Gordon lets her surreal narratives unfold intuitively on the canvas, depicting bodies in sometimes absurd, darkly humorous scenarios or disorienting spatial compositions and portraying faces that translate a range of feelings. In illuminating detail, she reimagines fragments extracted from her inner life while boldly envisioning worlds within worlds that bear uncanny resemblance to our own. Complicating the genre of self-portraiture and engaging the canon of art history, her work expresses multiple psychic registers at once, addressing viewers with a candor that is both familiar and unsettling in its intimacy.

Sasha Gordon was born in Somers, New York, in 1998. She received a BA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, in 2020.

photo: Jason Schmidt

Mai 36 Galerie announces representation of Jacopo Benassi

August 29, 2024

Mai 36 Galerie in Zürich announces the representation of Italian artist Jacopo Benassi.

Benassi began exploring photography in the 1980s, initially through environments connected to underground music. Over time, his work expanded to encompass portraits and self-portraits, performances, painting, nature, and the fashion industry. Throughout his career, he has consistently maintained a deeply intimate and introspective approach to photography.

Benassi’s work has progressively evolved from photography to painting, performance and sculpture. His photographic work, developed on the basis of the contrast between the underlying darkness and the light of the flash, set off pitilessly on every subject, has momentarily chosen the non-visible part of things as its location of choice and for concealment, with what remains guarded or imprisoned between one frame and the next, between one image and the next, what can only be imagined or desired.⁠

Victoria Siddall appointed new Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London

August 28, 2024

Victoria Siddall’s appointment as Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, was announced Wednesday, 28 August 2024.

The appointment, made by the National Portrait Gallery’s Board of Trustees, was approved by the Prime Minister, and Siddall will take up the post in Autumn 2024.

Victoria Siddall has over 20 years’ experience of leadership positions in the art world, both in the public and private sectors. Most recently, she co-founded Gallery Climate Coalition and Murmur, two charities that drive environmental responsibility in the art and music sectors, and or the past two years she has also worked with Tate in a strategic advisory capacity. Victoria was previously Global Director of Frieze, founding Frieze Masters and then leading four international art fairs across London, New York and Los Angeles. After securing the launch of Frieze Seoul, she became a non-executive Director of Frieze in March 2022.

Victoria is a trustee of Gallery Climate Coalition and the Ampersand Foundation and was until recently a trustee of the National Portrait Gallery. As Chair of the Board of Studio Voltaire she guided the organisation through a successful capital redevelopment campaign, greatly increasing the space dedicated to artist studios and public programmes. Other voluntary work has included securing a series of auction donations, which raised over $6.5m for the environmental charity ClientEarth.

The appointment of the Gallery’s thirteenth Director follows the departure of previous post-holder, Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE, who left the Gallery to become Director of the British Museum in June 2024, and Victoria Siddall will take over from Interim Director Michael Elliott.

David Ross, Chairman of the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, London, says: “I am delighted to welcome Victoria Siddall as the new Director of the National Portrait Gallery. Her strengths as a cultural leader are considerable, as is her knowledge of the art world, understanding of audiences and international profile. I know that she has the vision and determination to build on our recent successes and lead the next stage of the Gallery’s development, and I greatly look forward to working with her.”

Victoria Siddall said: “I’m truly honoured to have the opportunity to lead the National Portrait Gallery, a museum that holds the world’s greatest collection of portraits and is unique in being about people and for people. The art within its walls tells stories of human achievement and what unites us as a society, inspiring and shaping our view of the world and our place in it. This is perhaps the most exciting time in the NPG’s history, following the recent reopening and Inspiring People project that the team delivered so flawlessly under Nicholas Cullinan’s leadership.”

And Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy said: “Victoria Siddall will bring a wealth of experience to this role and I am delighted that the National Portrait Gallery is making history by appointing its first female Director. Her leadership will lead the Gallery from strength to strength, building on their successful reopening last year and I am excited to see what she and the National Portrait Gallery team will have in store for us in the coming years.”

photo: Benjamin McMahon

Pedro Ruiz joins Nohra Haime Gallery

August 6, 2024

The Nohra Haime Gallery has announced the newest addition to their roster of artists - Pedro Ruiz is a distinguished Colombian artist renowned for his profound exploration of conceptual painting and socio-political narratives within the context of Colombia.

Born in 1957, Ruiz embarked on his artistic journey at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he immersed himself in the study of painting and printing. His formative years included invaluable experiences at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17, refining his craft and deepening his artistic vision.

Returning to Bogota, Ruiz’s career evolved through collaborations with the advertising agency McCann Erickson, where he rose to become the company’s Artistic Director. His contributions earned international acclaim, garnering numerous awards at prestigious festivals.

Ruiz's work is a masterful blend of emotional depth and spiritual introspection, intricately woven with Colombia's rich ecological diversity. His meticulous approach to depicting the country’s flora and fauna reflects a profound commitment to authenticity, drawing inspiration from extensive research and reference materials.

Recognized with awards such as the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, Pedro Ruiz continues to captivate audiences globally. His comprehensive body of work was honored with a dedicated publication by Villegas Editors in 2011, with commentary by Colombian author William Ospina.

Ruiz's art unfolds as narratives where solitary figures drift in canoes among nature taking us to a magical kingdom devoid of superfluous elements, capturing the essence of the country's vibrant natural world.

An exhibition of his recent work will open on September 5th and run through October 26th, 2024.

Tolarno Galleries announces representation of Raymond Tan

August 2, 2024

Breaking away from the conventional notion of cakes as purely edible treats, Raymond Tan’s exhibition titled ‘A piece of …’ expands the horizons of creative expression by presenting cake sculptures designed not to be devoured but to be viewed as works of art.

Tan’s story begins in Selangor, where he spent his formative years before relocating to Australia in 2006 to pursue higher education. While completing a master’s degree in accounting, Tan discovered baking as a creative outlet.

His inventive bakes, including whimsical cake pops, intricately decorated fortune cookies, and stunning celebration cakes, quickly gained attention on Instagram.

Tan’s cake pops, featuring designs such as cacti, drippy watermelon, iconic landmarks and figures such as Anna Wintour and Karl Lagerfeld, became an internet sensation. His work was featured in Vogue, reposted by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and highlighted in numerous other prestigious publications.

In 2019, following Melbourne’s first Covid lockdown, Tan founded Raya, a bakery on Little Collins Street, that has quickly become a beloved spot for locals and visitors alike. Raya is celebrated for its innovative cakes, which blend traditional techniques with contemporary twists, reflecting Tan’s artistic flair and global inspirations.

Raymond Tan’s journey from self-taught baker to a globally recognized culinary artist is a testament to his passion and creativity. Raya Bakery embodies his commitment to pushing the boundaries of baking and offering customers an extraordinary experience with every bite.

Imbued with creative freedom, ‘A piece of …’, his first exhibition at Tolarno Galleries, marks a new chapter in his story.

The exhibition continues until Saturday, 10th August, 2024.

photo: Christian Capurro

Galerie Barbara Thumm announces representation of Elyla

July 25, 2024

Galerie Barbara Thumm has announced the representation of the artist Elyla.

Elyla is a multi-disciplinary artist and activist working with video and photo performances, installations, experimental theatre, performative sculpture, and site-specific performance art interventions. Their name comes from the terms “him-and-she” in Spanish (El-y-la), reflecting their interest in recognizing gender as an apparatus of modernity that permeates life beyond the politics of the self or the colonial gender binary system. They are informed by Mesoamerican indigenous cultures and current social issues.

Elyla lives and works in Masaya, Nicaragua, and will pursue a Master of Arts at the Basel Academy of Art and Design FHNW in Switzerland in the Fall of 2024.

“I seek to propose a ‘cochona (queer) utopia’ that explores and holds the meaning of mestizaje, I recognize my cochoneidad (queerness) as my greatest access to my ancestry and my greatest anticolonial weapon. I aim to disrupt colonial hegemonic cultural narratives, to reclaim sexual dissidence as ancestral memory and knowledge.” - Elyla

Their first exhibition at the gallery will open on the 6th of September.

Pippy Houldsworth Gallery now represents Tamar Mason

July 19, 2024

Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to announce representation of South African artist Tamar Mason (b. 1966, Johannesburg), whose first solo exhibition with the gallery will take place from 15 November 2024 to 4 January 2025.

Mason works primarily in textiles, but is also known for her ceramics, prints and architectural commissions. Her choice of media, traditionally associated with women's work, ornament, and domesticity, confronts perceived divisions between art and craft, and allows Mason to integrate artistic practices more closely into daily life. Her work further explores the meeting of urban and rural, and historical and contemporary, while probing themes such as national identity, the environment, and motherhood. Mason draws on the geography and history of South Africa, incorporating personal experience and broader cultural narratives into her work.

Much of Mason’s work references rural areas of South Africa, places with rich historical and cultural significance but where basic government services are failing local communities. An enduring legacy of exploitation and suffering mars these neglected locales, which are adversely affected by climate change and ecological crises. In densely embroidered textiles, Mason explores the permanent record that societies leave on the land, in contrast to the transience of human lives on the planet. Through references to local narratives, archaeology, biodiversity, and topography, Mason considers the social memory of the landscape, memorialising tensions that are still felt today.

Tamar Mason lives and works in Mbombela, South Africa. She received a Fine Arts Diploma from the Scuola Lorenzo dei Medici, Florence (1987) and a BA from the University of South Africa (1993). Mason worked with rural women’s community projects from 1987 until 2002 on a project-to-project basis, teaching embroidery and business skills, before moving to focus on her own individual practice.

Galerie Eva Presenhuber announces representation of Liesl Raff

July 11, 2024

Vienna-based Liesl Raff's sculptures explore the nuances of physical and social interactions through a profound appreciation of diverse materials and persistent experimentation. Her work features a semiotics of materials that begins where words fail. Recently, she has used natural rubber to showcase its adaptable and shape-shifting properties. Standing near or within Raff's pieces, you experience a transition into a warm, cozy, and calm state, feeling a sense of dependability and safety. Her sculptures integrate seamlessly with their surroundings, promoting contact and interaction. Raff creates gathering spaces that encourage connections between people, her works, and their environment. Her art is about living with and learning from her materials, fostering engagement, and eliminating the distance between the work and the viewer.

“I have always been a fan of Liesl Raff's extraordinary sculptures, and I am thrilled that she has decided to join our gallery! Based in Vienna, she represents a vibrant and promising contemporary art scene that I have watched blossom over the past 40 years since I studied there. I look forward to Liesl's immersive and performative installations that will transform the Austrian Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale in South Korea and the Lyon Biennale in France, both this September, as well as a solo show at our gallery in Zurich in early 2025” - Eva Presenhuber

In February 2025, a major solo exhibition will be presented at the gallery’s Maag Areal space in Zurich.

photo: Marcella Ruiz Cruz

NıCOLETTı to relocate to Shoreditch

July 4, 2024

NıCOLETTı is delighted to announce its relocation to a new gallery space in Shoreditch on 91 Paul Street, EC2A 4NY, opening in September 2024.

Established in May 2018, NıCOLETTı is a London-based gallery dedicated to supporting the development of emerging artists.

Committed to facilitating the research and production of critical discourses, the gallery’s exhibition programme investigates current and future socio-ecological paradigms, with a particular emphasis on exploring the intricate relationship between colonial history, ecology, and identity.

Alongside its gallery programme, NıCOLETTı curates VR exhibitions with artists using digital technology as a medium in their practice (NıCOLETTı DIGITAL), commissions sound works (NıCOLETTı AUDIO); and organises exhibitions and parties at The Glove That Fits, a techno club in East London.

Liorah Tchiprout joins Pippy Houldsworth Gallery

June 25, 2024

Pippy Houldsworth Gallery is delighted to announce representation of London-based artist Liorah Tchiprout, who will have her first solo exhibition with the gallery from 30 August to 28 September 2024.

Tchiprout’s practice spans painting, printmaking and sculpture, drawing on Yiddish literature and Jewish culture to explore new perspectives on themes such as girlhood, memory and intergenerational connection. Painted from lifelike dolls that she makes herself using human hair and handmade clothing, her work explores the boundary between the imaginary and real. As she paints and draws her dolls, they become conduits for individuals, models that mediate the experience of painting from life. In this way, her paintings are intimate yet surreal, bringing together the animate and inanimate.

Liorah Tchiprout (b. 1992, London) lives and works in London. She received her MA from Camberwell College of Art, London (2020), and earned her BA in Fine Art Printmaking at University of Brighton (2016). Solo exhibitions include Two Eyes Wide Open at the Edge of Dawn, Marlborough, London (2023); All Things are Kneeling, Brocket Gallery, London (2022); and Frontier at the Country of Night, Oxmarket Contemporary, Chichester (2022). Recent group exhibitions include The Darling of Reflection, Sid Motion Gallery, London (2024); Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London (2023), for which Tchiprout won the Sunny Dupree Family Award for a Woman Artist; Face to Face: A Celebration of Portraiture, Marlborough, London (2023); Painted Prints, trio show with Jimmy Merris and Gillian Ayres, Marlborough, London (2023); New Contemporaries, South London Gallery, London (2021); and The Ingram Prize Exhibition, Unit 1 Gallery, London (2021), amongst others. She has been shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (2023), selected for Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2021), and shortlisted for the Ingram Prize (2021), The Signature Art Prize (2021), and the Ruth Borchard Self Portrait Prize (2020). Her collections include Government Art Collection, UK; Ruth Borchard Next Generation Collection, London; Soho House Art Collection; and Clifford Chance Art Collection.

photo: Sam Hylton

Tolarno announces representation of Liam Fleming

June 24, 2024

Tolarno Galleries is pleased to announce representation of Liam Fleming.

Fleming’s work is characterised by a distinctive geometric purity and an absence of adornment. Living and working in Adelaide, South Australia, Liam Fleming has won numerous awards and in 2023 his sculptures were the subject of a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia.

In 2022, he exhibited experimental sculptures in Liam Fleming: Falling into space at the University of New South Wales Galleries, Sydney. These recent exhibitions revealed his rule-breaking experimentation into the medium of glass or as he puts it, ‘controlled demolition’:

My work aims to creatively demolish the pre-existing ideas of perfection and regimes I have created for myself through years of production glassblowing.

Fleming’s ‘controlled demolition’ also sees him breaking down the boundaries between art, design and architecture. Fleming’s distinctive voice and forward-looking vision are attracting attention following inclusion of his captivating sculptural objects in the important events of the world of design: Melbourne Design Week, Milan Design Week and London Design Week.

His ‘new forms’, says Hamish Sawyer, ‘have required Fleming to relinquish much of his control over the making process in the creation of something exciting and unfamiliar’.

Tolarno Galleries is looking forward to exhibiting new works by the artist in 2025.