A project conceived by a renowned curator and contemporary art expert Daniel Malarkey: Courage Exists in Us was hosted by the Dickinson gallery in Mayfair, London from 10 November to 10 December 2020. In the exhibition in context of masterpieces from Dickinson collection, a selection of works by promising contemporary artists was shown. I worked with Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira, Purdey Fitzherbert and Tom Schneider and Daniel to analyse and interpret their works for the viewers within the framework of the exhibition.
Purdey Fitzherbert
Purdey Fitzherbert followed her foundational studies at Wimbledon College of art with an Honours Fine Art degree from Newcastle University, where she also worked with senior Psychology lecturer Dr. Gabriele Jordan to enhance her knowledge on human experience of colour. She has been influenced by the materiality of Anselm Kiefer, the minimalism of Agnes Martin and the subtlety of Robert Irwin. Having been praised internationally for her work, she is looking to further engage with viewer experience in her future explorations.
Purdey Fitzherbert’s works are a unique blend of classical Western training, noble upbringing, and Japanese aesthetical values. She has long suffered from chronic insomnia, and her first artistic inspirations came from snippets of experiences of her unconscious wanders. After she embraced the art of meditation and the world of natural medicine, her world reilluminated and her artistic path became fully entwined with her path of healing. That was the time when the light and colour took the centre stage of her artistic explorations. In the Sublimate series, created in 2019, instead of capturing the appearance of light, Purdey tries to convey its ephemeral nature through the fleeting experiences of human eye.
Sublimate II, 2019
pigment, iron fillings, ink, dyes, on canvas
185.5 x 120 cm
73 1/8 x 47 1/4 in
Sublimate III, 2019
pigment, iron fillings, ink, dyes, on canvas
185.5 x 120 cm
73 1/8 x 47 1/4 in
For Purdey the process of creation is paramount. She stresses the importance and the innate beauty of traditional crafts techniques. The artist embraces the full journey in her works, starting with hand ground pigments all the way to relinquishing her dominant role as a maker and trusting the natural processes to carry through her artistic vision and to release the creative force behind it. Purdey herself views it as a process of ‘discovery and mystery, some of which will always be unknown’. The courage of letting the beauty be revealed ‘from within the darkness of matter’ without interventions and impositions is the vital aspect of Purdey’s nature as an artist.
Sublimate III, 2019
pigment, iron fillings, ink, dyes, on canvas
185.5 x 120 cm
73 1/8 x 47 1/4 in
Tom Schneider
Tom Schneider is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he studied under the guidance of Karl Wirsum. Following his solo exhibition at Grinnell College Museum of Art in 2018, Schneider has been gaining international art scene attention with his distinct style and brave subject matter.
In Pondering Delacroix, Tom Schneider tackles one of the most challenging biblical narratives citing a renowned painting by Delacroix as his reference. Provoking the debate about the freedom of expression, the original work by Delacroix came to signify the struggles of the modern artist.
Pondering Delacroix, 2020
acrylic on canvas
182.9 x 137.2 cm
72 x 54 in
Riding The Wave Of Krakatoa (1883), 2008
acrylic on canvas
160 x 121.9 cm
63 x 48 in
‘This struggle is regarded by the holy books as a symbol of the trials that God sometimes sends his chosen ones.’ – Eugène Delacroix
Schneider reimagines the scene in a contemporary setting, therefore bringing the viewer closer and metaphorically sharing the struggles of Jacob and his own artistic strives with the spectator.
Jacob Wrestling with the angel, Eugène Delacroix, 1854-1861
Oil on plaster
Dimensions: 751 x 485 cm
24.6 x 15.9 ft
Tom Schneider considers children’s ability to daydream and fantasize the most exceptional quality of a human mind. A lot of Schneider narratives are of different folk myths and fictional stories that in his mind lets people hold on to their dreams after growing up. Phantasmic lizard-like creatures appear often in Schneider’s works.
Woman Gazing at Miniature Snake People, 2020
acrylic on canvas
182.9 x 137.2 cm
72 x 54 in
Here he breaks his signature checkerboard pattern of eyes and mouths to make his Snake People even more conspicuous. They are at the same time a product of imagination and a signifier of creative potential of human mind, the result of which can easily materialise. Schneider considers the medium of painting ideal for the representation of fictional stories, as he deems the painting itself a fiction.
Woman Gazing at Miniature Snake People, 2020
acrylic on canvas
182.9 x 137.2 cm
72 x 54 in
Riding The Wave Of Krakatoa (1883), 2008
acrylic on canvas
160 x 121.9 cm
63 x 48 in
In Riding the Wave of Krakatoa, Tom Schneider depicts the eruption of Krakatoa volcano in 1883, one of the deadliest and the most destructive natural disasters in the history of humankind. The eruption lasted over six months, causing numerous tsunamis and resulting in over 36,000 deaths. However, the focus of the artist lies not with the momentous calamity but with a tiny human figure swimming to safety on a crocodile. This unimaginable story is the official account of a German quarry manager who saved himself by putting his thumbs into the eye sockets of the beast and holding on for several miles. Here Schneider reminds the viewer of the magnitude of human strength and dexterity in the face of misfortune.
Riding The Wave Of Krakatoa (1883), 2008
acrylic on canvas
160 x 121.9 cm
63 x 48 in
Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira
Born and brought up in Lisbon, Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira is one of the most exciting artists currently operating on the Portugal art scene. After completing the Painting programme at the University of Lisbon, Rui Ferreira attended Goldsmith, University of London following the footsteps several YBAs. He has been widely exhibited across Europe and in 2019 had his institutional debut at Berardo Museum in Lisbon in dialogue with works of Baselitz, Richter and Penck. His work is included in several important public collections, among which are Bernhard Hainz, Navacerrada, PLMJ and Yuan Art.
Untitled, 2020
mixed media
200 x 140 cm
78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in
This work is a fantastic example of Rui Ferreira’s large-scale abstractions that has put him on the international stage. Amorphous and nebulous under the fleeting look, in the eyes of Ferreira they have ‘layers of figuration that are superimposed with more organic layers and then uncovered again’. The ghost-like presences of forms and even figures remain in the background, creating tension between figuration and abstraction. Rui’s creations reflect on the transcendence and precariousness of nature and of human life, where the layers represent all the different changes that a microcosm or a body goes through during the process of aging.
mixed media
200 x 140 cm 78 3/4 x 55 1/8 in
Rui Ferreira’s return to figurative painting has been triggered by his residency in Hungary in 2018. Due to the language barrier and the remote location of the studio he found himself unintentionally isolated from people around him. Deprived of the ability to verbalise his vision and his identity, he responded to this challenge by embracing a completely new style, a style that did not appeal to him after he completed his studies in Lisbon in 1995.
St. Leonards Basement, 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1⁄2 x 19 3⁄4 x 2 in
Untitled (Lake Millstätter See Studio), 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 2 in
‘Courage is an element of despair. You leap from that turbulent moment into action. It is a transient state that comes as waves after periods of torment and then resolved with the exposure of oneself.’
Untitled (Lake Millstätter See Studio), 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 2 in
Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira’s self-portrait series Posing for Sue depicts Sue Tilley, a professional model also known as Big Sue, widely known for her long-standing professional relationships with Lucian Freud. Rui Ferreira’s friendship with Sue started in 2013 at a charity event, at the time where his research in the experiences of models in fine art has led him to take off his clothes and become a model himself for the first time. The artist remembers this as a very disquieted experience of being overwhelmed by the stares of people around him. That is when he found the necessary courage and comfort in the eyes of Sue by ‘tapping into her emotions’ through her eyes. Rui yearned for understanding the connection between Lucian and Sue, mirroring that relationship and eventually projecting it through his own body and work: “I wanted to connect, grab her attention and share my idea with her”.
“I wanted to connect, grab her attention and share my idea with her”.
Posing for Sue II, 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 2 in
Posing for Sue, 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 2 in
Drawing inspiration from Lucian Freud’s The Painter Surprised by a Naked Admirer, Rui challenges the dogmatic understanding of the interrelations between the artist and the model. Inverting Freud’s perspective, Rui intentionally puts himself in a vulnerable position by being naked in front of his model, intentionally switching their roles while retaining a dominant position of the creator and controlling the experience. From his letter to Sue: “I wanted to put you in the place of an artist and me in the role of adoring muse, venerating you, wanting to be adored and observing the experience”.
Posing for Sue, 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 2 in
Rui’s artistic process involves initially producing a video piece and then working on a painting from a carefully chosen film still. The production of the film is merely a stepping stone, as the ultimate intention has always been a painting. The video allows him to analyse the process in motion rather than focusing on one particular viewpoint.
Posing for Sue III, 2020
oil and enamel paint on paper
70 x 50 x 5 cm
27 1/2 x 19 3/4 x 2 in
Download the full PDF
If you’d like to read and download the full Courage Exists In Us exhibition PDF you can do so by following this link.