Established names and fresh new talent to look out for
A look at seven artists whose reputations and markets are on the rise — featuring works offered in our First Open | Online auction, 4-11 April
Stefan Gierowski
Stefan Gierowski (b. 1925), Obraz CXLII (Painting CXLII), painted in 1963. 58⅞ x 53⅛ in (149.5 x 135 cm). Estimate: £10,000-15,000. This lot is offered in
First Open | Online, 4-11 April 2019, Online
Who? Polish artist Stefan Gierowski (b. 1925) incorporates Op Art’s formal conditions into mesmeric geometric compositions. Eliminating all trace of the real world, the artist’s richly textured canvases present an almost mathematical understanding of expression, and a meditation on chromatic and tonal possibility.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Imi Knoebel.
Recent exhibitions: Gierowski was included in the 2017 group exhibition The Best Gallery New Works in the Collection at Warsaw’s Zacheta National Gallery of Art, as well as the 2016 exhibition Art in Europe 1945–1968 at ZKM, Karlsruhe.
Collections: Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz; Arsenal Gallery Poland.
Bodys Isek Kingelez
Bodys Isek Kingelez (1948-2015), Kinshasa Label, executed in 1989. 32⅝ x 19⅛ x 27⅛ in (83 x 48.5 x 69 cm). Estimate: £30,000-50,000. This lot is offered in
First Open | Online, 4-11 April 2019, Online
Who? Bodys Isek Kingelez (1948-2015) was a sculptor and artist from the Democratic Republic of Congo who was celebrated for his ‘extreme models’ of fantastical cities. Created against the backdrop of the constantly evolving city of Kinshasa, his maquettes’ saturated colours and fanciful, hopeful designs express a utopian spirit.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, William Kentridge, Thomas Schütte.
Recent exhibitions: Most recently, Kingelez was the subject of a 2018 solo retrospective Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. That year he was also included in the group exhibition Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design Collections, which travelled to the High Museum of Art, Atlanta and the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao among others. Additionally, his work was included in Kunsthaus Graz’s Congo Stars 2018-2019.
Collections: Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris; CAAC — The Pigozzi Collection, Geneva; Groninger Museum, Netherlands; The Museum of Everything, London.
Sanya Kantarovsky
Sanya Kantarovsky (b. 1982), Untitled, executed in 2016. 16⅞ x 14 in (43 x 35.5 cm). Estimate: £2,000-3,000. This lot is offered in
First Open | Online, 4-11 April 2019, Online
Who? Sanya Kantarovsky (b. 1982) probes the private realm in darkly humorous works. His figures are fantastical, ungainly, brazen and compassionate, and the dream worlds he renders in striking, spare lines open up a variety of emotional responses.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Ella Kruglyanskaya, Christoph Ruckhäberle.
Recent exhibitions: Kantarovsky was the subject of the solo exhibition Sanya Kantarovsky: Disease of the Eyes at Kunsthalle Basel, 2018. His works will also be included in the forthcoming Drawing Biennial 2019 at the Drawing Room, London, as well as a solo presentation at Luhring Augustine Gallery in New York.
Collections: Tate Collection, London; The Warehouse, Dallas.
Mai-Thu Perret
Mai-Thu Perret (b. 1976), The Crack-Up VI, executed in 2009. Overall: 50⅜ x 38⅝ in (128 x 98 cm). Estimate: £4,000-6,000. This lot is offered in
First Open | Online, 4-11 April 2019, Online
Who? Mai-Thu Perret (b. 1976) studied English at the University of Cambridge, and her multidisciplinary practice weaves together text, Eastern spirituality and art-historical references through the prism of radical feminist politics. Her speculative fictions, informed by a fascination with history, encourage multiple interpretations.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Latifa Echakhch.
Recent exhibitions: Perret’s solo exhibition, The Blazing World, is currently on view until March 24 at Spike Island in Bristol. Her work was included in the 2018 Glasgow International Biennial and the group exhibition Objects Like Us at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Connecticut; she had a solo exhibition at Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva.
Collections: Rubell Family Collection, Miami; Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles; Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aargauer.
Awards: Paul Boesche Award, 2018; the Zurich Art Prize, 2011, and the Prix Culturel Manor, 2011.
Raymond Hains
Raymond Hains (1926-2005), Saffa, executed in 1971. 39⅝ x 37¼ x 4½ in (100 x 94.7 x 11.5 cm). Estimate: £35,000-55,000. This lot is offered in
First Open | Online, 4-11 April 2019, Online
Who? Blending Conceptual art, witty wordplay and an abiding interest in mass culture, Raymond Hains (1926-2005) was a founder of the Nouveau réalisme movement. His practice was diverse and prolific, and his work is a study in layered meaning. Hains was awarded the Kurt Schwitters Prize in 1997.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Mimmo Rotella, Mario Dellavedova.
Recent exhibitions: Hains is included in the forthcoming group exhibitions So wie wir sind 1.0 at the Museum für moderne Kunst, Weserberg, and The Collection (1) | Highlights for a Future at the Stedelijk Museum in Ghent. He had a solo exhibition of works from the series that includes the above work, Saffa/Seita, at Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin.
Collections: Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; and the Des Moins Art Centre, Idaho.
Kara Walker
Kara Walker (b. 1969), Untitled, executed in 2006. Overall: 10¼ x 91¾ in (25.8 x 233 cm). Estimate: £12,000-18,000. This lot is offered in
First Open | Online, 4-11 April 2019, Online
Who? Kara Walker (b. 1969) is an American contemporary painter, silhouettist, printmaker, installation artist, and film-maker who is most famous for her multi-character, panoramic friezes which probe race, gender, sexuality and identity.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Omar Ba, William Kentridge, Henry Taylor.
Recent exhibitions: Walker has been the subject of two recent solo exhibitions: in 2017, Kara Walker: Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated), which travelled to the Smithsonian Institute of Art among others; and in 2018, Kara Walker: Virginia’s Lynch Mob and Other Works at the Montclair Museum of Art, New Jersey. She will be included in the current travelling exhibition Black Refractions: Highlights from the Studio Museum in Harlem.
Collections: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Hammer Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
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Tamuna Sirbiladze
Who? Georgian-born artist Tamuna Sirbiladze’s (1971-2016) representations of women move between abstraction and figuration. Her brushwork is expressive and confident, and these vividly chromatic works swell with movement and fun.
If you like this artist’s work you might also enjoy: Phoebe Unwin, Petra Cortright.
Recent exhibitions: Currently Sirbiladze has a solo presentation at David Zwirner, London. She was also included in Known Unknowns at The Saatchi Gallery, London, and Instagram Now! at the Belvedere in Vienna.
Collections: Rubell Family Collection, Miami.