Saint Valentine
Saint Valentine, a group exhibition at @ninajohnsongallery, is unexpected, fun and gorgeous in a quirky way. And the mid-afternoon sun cast a beautiful light in the three rooms where they are displayed.
The show features new works by @francescadimattio, Elsa Oldham, @annabetbeze and Katie Stout @ummmsmile.
As you enter Frog Jug, by @ummmsmile, a green ceramic female figure with golden nipples, lips and eyes, embracing an pink vase half its height, meets you. The embrace seems to hold balance and affection. You cannot not smile. Her chandelier and sconces made of bronze, glass and ceramic are at once whimsical and satirical.
@francescadimattio's Meissen porcelain vessel and pedestal nods to antiquity while @annabetbeze's lush wall hangings (featured below) want to be touched. Her canvas is wool that she dyes, cuts, shaves and distresses into abstraction. My friend @girlpilot couldn't help but imagine one of them in her bedroom, guarding her dreams.
In her statement Nina Johnson explains that she felt “ there was a grittiness, a strangeness, something almost punk rock about all of their aesthetics that ties them together. Of course, there is the baroque, but what distinguishes the decorative from the conceptual, across all of their practices is a palpable sense of labor, the gesture and implication of their bodies and how they use themselves and their physicality to create these works.”
The show is a must-see and is on view through July 29, 2023.