Caroline Douglas, Director of the Contemporary Art Society, writes about Surface Work in her Friday Dispatch
The openings were crowded in Mayfair and Old Street on Tuesday evening for this dense, two-site exhibition. Including work by fifty artists and spanning a full 100 years, Surface Work is something like the tasting menu at a Michelin Star restaurant: exceptional, if slightly overwhelming as a total experience - enduringly memorable for exquisite individual moments.
The premise of the show is disarmingly simple: abstract paintings by female artists. The title is taken from a quotation from the American painter Joan Mitchell: "Abstract is not a style. I simply want to make the surface work". Mitchell was notable as one of only four women artists included in the Royal Academy's authoritative Abstract Expressionism show in 2016.
Image: Liubov Popova, Non-Objective Composition, c1920
Gouache, oil and india ink on cardboard
45.6 x 28.3 cm, 18 x 11 1/8 in
Courtesy Annely Juda Fine Art
- Doug Aitken
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Milton Avery
- Jules de Balincourt
- Ali Banisadr
- Hernan Bas
- María Berrío
- Varda Caivano
- Verne Dawson
- Stan Douglas
- Elmgreen & Dragset
- Inka Essenhigh
- Ian Hamilton Finlay
- Barnaby Furnas
- David Harrison
- NS Harsha
- Alex Hartley
- Secundino Hernández
- Ilse D’Hollander
- Christian Holstad
- Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
- Chantal Joffe
- Isaac Julien
- Idris Khan
- Yayoi Kusama
- John Kørner
- Doron Langberg
- Wangechi Mutu
- Alice Neel
- Maria Nepomuceno
- Chris Ofili
- Jorge Pardo
- Celia Paul
- Grayson Perry
- Paula Rego
- Tal R
- Conrad Shawcross
- Hedda Sterne
- Do Ho Suh
- Sarah Sze
- Adriana Varejão
- Suling Wang
- Stephen Willats
- Flora Yukhnovich
- Doug Aitken
- Njideka Akunyili Crosby
- Milton Avery
- Jules de Balincourt
- Ali Banisadr
- Hernan Bas
- María Berrío
- Varda Caivano
- Verne Dawson
- Stan Douglas
- Elmgreen & Dragset
- Inka Essenhigh
- Ian Hamilton Finlay
- Barnaby Furnas
- David Harrison
- NS Harsha
- Alex Hartley
- Secundino Hernández
- Ilse D’Hollander
- Christian Holstad
- Kudzanai-Violet Hwami
- Chantal Joffe
- Isaac Julien
- Idris Khan
- Yayoi Kusama
- John Kørner
- Doron Langberg
- Wangechi Mutu
- Alice Neel
- Maria Nepomuceno
- Chris Ofili
- Jorge Pardo
- Celia Paul
- Grayson Perry
- Paula Rego
- Tal R
- Conrad Shawcross
- Hedda Sterne
- Do Ho Suh
- Sarah Sze
- Adriana Varejão
- Suling Wang
- Stephen Willats
- Flora Yukhnovich
Victoria Miro Venice
San Marco 1994,
Calle Drio La Chiesa
30124 Venice, Italy
t: +39 041 523 3799
info@victoria-miro.com
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Opening Times
During exhibitions:
London: Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–6pm.
Venice: Tuesday–Saturday: 10am–1pm & 2–6pm.
We are also closed on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays.
Admission free.
Enquiries
All general enquiries should be sent to
info@victoria-miro.com
Victoria Miro does not accept unsolicited artist applications.
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