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ABODE CURATES A SHOW FEATURING MARIA AGUREEVA AND LINDSEY BULL FOR LONDON ART FAIR’S ART PROJECTS 2019
Abode continues its commitment to supporting and promoting emerging talent, and following the success of the show at London’s Saatchi gallery, we were invited to curate a show for London Art Fair’s Art Projects in January 2019.
LAF 2019: Text
For the 2019 Art Projects, Abode is bringing together two female artists: Maria Agureeva, a Russian multidisciplinary artist; and Lindsey Bull, a British artist, working primarily in figurative painting. Both artists explore ideas on perceptions, ideology, psychologies and expectations, relating to the body in contemporary society, but through very different approaches.
Agureeva’s work is concerned with the process of objectification, as a result of our desire to change in order to escape social pressure. The artist explores how we model ourselves under the pressure of clichéd attractiveness, polishing our bodies just like billions of images are polished online. In this exploration the artist looks for the boundaries beyond in which the body becomes an object like any other. Agureeva uses mostly synthetic materials, as a means to stress once again that body transformation is a kind of artificial self design which has become a modern form of religion.
Maria Agureeva works with installations, objects, videos, performances, sculpture. She is a participant of IX international Andrey Tarkovsky film festival “The Mirror”, Ivanovo (2015), a nominee of Kandinsky Prize (2013), a finalist of Arte Laguna Prize (2018) and the winner of Arte Laguna special prize (2018).
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Maria Agureeva, The dust of Pearl will settle down
on soft skin covering all the cracks,
Atrium gallery, 18th Street Arts Center,
Los Angeles, courtesy of the artist.
LAF 2019: Text
While Agureeva’s work is mainly responding to mainstream culture, popular social environments and media, Bull is particularly interested in the darker psychologies and side-lined, marginalised individuals – outsiders – on the fringes of cultural society.
Bull pushes the idea of transformation, “camouflaging”, to the extreme, often drawing inspiration from fashion magazines and books on rituals and witchcraft. Her characters, mostly female, are depicted costumed or unusually dressed and often – in unexpected, abstracted and ambiguous settings.
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Lindsey Bull, Blue Moon,
Oil on canvas, 135 x 110cm, 2018
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To the spectator it might seem as if they have intruded in something private, not intended to be discovered. However, as if protected by the enigma of their appearance and the theatrical setting, Bull’s characters gaze back with arrogance, confidence or indifference; challenging the spectator to question their preconceived ideas on image. This is one of the key aspects that interest the artist in her investigating – how the way we look can determine behaviour, relationships within a society, becoming a marker of a sense of belonging or refusal to belong.
The issues that the two artists raise are undoubtedly becoming more and more compelling and challenging in contemporary society, but both Agureeva and Bull approach them metaphorically, subtly, without an intent to preach or make loud statements.
It is notable, that although the artists apply very different media in their work, there is always an underlying affectivity to the work of both. The sensory powers, intrinsic to the medium of painting, are tied to the materials the artists use. The bright, bold, shiny candy like plastic in Agureeva’s work and sensual flexible, fleshy latex, are undoubtedly luring. Bull’s characters, although almost devilishly mysterious, are charismatic and seductive, adding to that – on a different level – the use of paint adds to the seduction, otherworldliness and appeal.
Bringing the work together will potentially create a new narrative, opening up new significance and raise new questions within the spectators.
London Art Fair Art Project
London Art Fair provides a space to showcase the most exceptional modern and contemporary art of our time, to discover and to buy. The Fair is an established destination for both museum quality modern and contemporary work, nurturing collecting at all levels, from prints and editions, to major works by internationally renowned artists. To enable engagement with art, the Fair continues to provide access to talks, tours, screenings and curated spaces, which include Photo50, the annual exhibition of contemporary photography; Art Projects, which features large-scale installations, solo shows and group displays; and – within Art Projects – Dialogues, a guest-curated section of Art Projects intended to encourage and foster relationships between home and abroad.
London Art Fair is an unmissable opening to the international art calendar, with the next edition taking place from 16-20 January 2019.
Preview Day Tuesday 15th January
Press View 11.00 – 14.00
VIP Preview 15.00 – 18.00
Preview Evening 18.00 – 21.00
Fair Open Times
Wednesday 16th January 11.00 – 18.00
Private View/City Evening 18.00 – 21.00
Thursday 17th January 11.00 – 18.00
Thursday Late 18.00 – 21.00
Friday 18th January 11.00 – 19.00
Saturday 19th January 11.00 – 19.30
Sunday 20th January 11.00 – 17.00
Venue:
Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street
London N1 0QH
Web : https://www.londonartfair.co.uk/
To find out more and receive invitation to the show, please contact the gallery at hello@art-abode.com
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