Annika Nuttall Gallery presents: ‘Passing Colour’, a second solo exhibition by Manon Steyaert.
Steyaert’s latest body of work takes the form of a weekly rotating exhibition, comprising a series of canvas stretchers wrapped in layers of highly pigmented silicone, installed over two walls of the gallery space. These monochromatic, totem-like frames exist between painting and sculpture, using silicone as the dominant material that suggests the canvas of a painting, but also moves and folds in space, expanding outwards.
The playfully striped works in this exhibition investigate “in between’’ tones of colour; the colour palette working in harmony reflects notions of light and movement, passing through space and time. Each of the pieces is kinetic in how they move around each other throughout the duration of the exhibition; combining with others to form part of a whole, a shifting articulated ombre. The thought process for these combinations is shown in an accompanying series of gouache studies on paper.
The paintings test the role of the white wall space around the paintings on a viewer’s perception, and how it reacts with colour. The white spacing offers the viewers’ gaze some breathing space, allowing the eye to fully appreciate and digest each colour. The complicated chromatics represented throughout the exhibition suggest a sense of time passing, like a gradient of colour going from pale to dark, light to shadow, blending in or contrasting with the walls.
This particular palette is noticeably muted, often used in domestic interiors. Steyaert wants to highlight the complexity of this palette, and allow the hues to be celebrated as more than just a way to avoid bold or statement colours. The artist thinks of these “in between” chroma as the most significant in her practice, as they are the hardest to mix, containing larger variations of pigments, therefore taking the most time to blend.
The rotating wall-based sculptural installation requires the presence of the body, bodies of the artist and the viewers; not only to physically re-hang, but to view the installation multiple times in order to activate the work. Colour asks us to gaze, to wonder, to take in and enjoy.
Manon Steyaert (UK/FR)
Manon Steyaert (b. 1996, Belgium, nationality French)
Lives and works in London, England
Manon Steyaert is a French-British artist based in London. Steyaert’s practice is situated between the two worlds of painting and sculpture, able to create both wall-based works and free-standing abstract sculptures. With a strong background in fashion as well as art, the artist pays homage to both traditional and non-traditional mediums throughout her practice. Focusing mainly on the aesthetic quality of silicone, Steyaert also utilises canvas, scrim, wood and metal, consequently drawing on the visual language of both architecture and painting. Allowing herself to be led by the intrinsic qualities of her materials, Steyaert’s creative process is intuitive and process-driven. Silicone as a medium is one that requires time, attention, and immense control. Hand-pouring each sheet of silicone, the curing process alone can take days, and the finished form is as delicate as it is physical. In many of Steyaert’s works, the silicone is treated like fabric: draped and folded across its structural support, creating beautiful compositions that challenge our perception of what it is that makes a painting or a sculpture. As a result, movement, abstraction and action are core to Steyaert’s work. Her abstracted forms sit in limbo between two accepted modes of art, generating a unique space for curiosity and development. Colour and form work together closely within Steyaert’s work, guiding the viewer’s eye along the undulations of her chosen material. Making use of a wide variety of colours, often melding them together to create near-psychedelic patterns across the surface of the silicone, Steyaert’s work is simultaneously simple and meditative. In recent works, Steyaert has made us of metallic pigments, which flash and glare as the silicone is manipulated across the stretchers, interrupting the viewer’s gaze and drawing further attention to the uniqueness of both the colours used and material surface itself. The importance of materiality of Steyaert’s practice is undeniable. Alternative perspectives, interpretations and viewpoints are continually encouraged within the artists’ ever-evolving practice. Unable to be defined within ‘traditional’ boundaries of painting or sculpture, her work embodies the transgressive nature of conceptual and contemporary artistic practice.
EDUCATION
2014-2015 Foundation – Central Saint Martins
2015-2018 BA (Fine Art) – Central Saint Martins
2018-2019 MA (Fine Art) – Chelsea College of Arts
EXHIBITIONS
2023 To be titled, Solo show, Blue Shop Gallery, London, UK, June
2023 “Passing Colour” Solo show, Annika Nuttall Gallery, Denmark
2022 Group Show, Westbund Art Fair, Cub_ism artspace, Shanghai, China, 10th-13th Nov
2022 “Gestura II” group Show, Marie-José Gallery, Ldn, UK, 12th-24th Sept
2022 Group Show, Pictura Gallery, London, UK, 7th-9th Sept
2022 Group show, Entre Art Fair, Annika Nuttall Gallery, Copenhagen, 25th – 28th Aug
2022 Solo Series Launch, Artistellar, online, June 16th-26th
2022 “Metamorphosis”, group show, Salon Design, New York, USA, May
2022 “Works on Paper”, group show, Blue Shop cottage, online, April
2022 “Material World”, group show, Liliya Gallery, London, 24th March- 19th April
2022 “Between Emotion and Sanity”, grous show, Shanghai, China, March 12th- July 14th
2022 “Venomous”, group show, D Contemporary, Mayfair, London, Curated by enfant
terribles, January 18th -28th
2021“Realities”, group show, Artistellar, London, UK, December 2nd – 5th
2021 “Atmosfer”, group show, Nero Design Gallery, Arrezo Italy, December
2021 “Point de Vue”, Solo Show, Blender Gallery, Athens, November 4th – Dec 4th
2021 “Podcast exhibition”, group show, Hackney Downs studios, curated by The Artist
Contemporary, London 19th September
2021 Group show – curated by Karen Tronel, London, 6th-18th July
2021 “From a safe distance”, group collaboration, The auction collective, curated by Raen
Barnsley, 19th May - 9th June
2021 “Soft spot” – Group show, Eve Leibe Gallery, 24th – 31st May
2021 “Hétérotopie” – Group Show, Bubble n’ Squeak, Brussels, March – April
2021 “Becoming Habits: Chapter 3” - with Studi0, St Moritz, March - April
2021 “Noticing Colour” solo show with Annika Nuttall Gallery, Denmark, April – June
2021 “New Breed” group show with Gallery Nosco online, Nov 2020 – Jan 2021
2021 Group Show, London Art Fair with Eve Leibe Gallery online, Jan 20th – 31st
2020 “Curated for Christmas” – Bowes Parris Gallery + All Mouth Gallery, Dec, London
2020 “Interrupted Contemplation” solo show, virtual exhibition, Eve Leibe Gallery, Nov -
Dec
2020 “After Hours” (group show) – Bowes Parris Gallery Nov-Dec, London
2020 “Hexalogy” (group show) – PADA residency, 27th August – 29th
2020 “Summer Tracks” (group show) – Virtual exhibition, Programa Taide, 22nd July – 6th
September
2020 “Anti-Freeze” (group show) – Virtual exhibition, curated by Cassandra Bowes, 25th
May – 8th June
2019 "Ma Toile" (SOLO SHOW) - A Room Upstairs Gallery, 20th Nov-20th Dec (UK,
Ldn)
2019 "Misbehaving Surfaces" (SOLO SHOW) - The Who Gallery, J.lindeberg
showroom, 25th Sept-30th Oct (UK, Ldn)
2019 "off grid" (group show) - Cookhouse Gallery, Mar 21st (UK,Ldn)
2019 "MANON" (SOLO SHOW) - The Who Gallery, Not just another store, Mar 8th-
Aprl 8th (UK, Ldn)
2019 "13th Hour" (group show) - BSMT gallery, Feb 18t (UK)
2019 "Wicked Game" (group show) - Cookhouse Gallery, Jan 24th - 25th (UK)
2018 "E Pluribus Unum"(group show) - Cookhouse Gallery, Dec 13th
2018 "Obsessions"(group show) - Cookhouse Gallery, Nov 9th
2018 Degree Show - Central Saint Martins, May 23rd - 27th
2017- First Thursdays, Creative Debuts (group show) - Black & White Building
AWARDS/PRIZES/RESIDENCIES
2019 Clifford Chance Sculpture Award – Shortlisted
2020 Back Room Open Call – Shortlisted, Dec exhibition
03/08/2020 - 30/08/2020 PADA artist residency, Portugal
PUBLICATIONS
“Meet the maker”, Jardan Furniture feature
Elle Decoration October issue 2022
Cub_Ism_artspace exhibition interview – Haoyang Wang
“Up and Coming” – Sight unseen by Laura Todd
Colour Hive - MIX 68 Helter-skelter Surface
Parapluie – “Friday Feature”
HITxHIT online interview
Artbasic – online interview
La Novicia Revista n.3 front cover page
Visual Space – online interview
Made in Bed Sotheby’s – online interview
Studi0 gallery book
Hector Campbell Interview “Manon Steyaert”
Art Plugged interview by Verity Babbs
