Saloua Raouda Choucair -
Plus ou Moins,
1951
"The essence of living is in doing, and in doing, I have made my world and it's a much better world than I ever saw outside. " - Louis Nevelson
To Pace Gallery once again for Creating Abstraction, a very enlightening exhibition devoted to women artists working in different countries who have individually reacted to aspects of Modernism in their art. As such this group of artists share a particularly harmonious vision and aesthetic. It was a very powerful and cohesive group show as the shared aesthetic in the works of these women created a complementary dialogue between the pieces on display. This
exhibition was a real treat as their were many delightful surprises and
discoveries which were relevant to my own current work. Among the artists exhibited is the work of Barbara Hepworth. How wonderful it was to have a chance to see first hand her stringed sculptures which were instrumental in the development of my stitched and collaged Aeolus series (here). Disc with Strings (Sun), 1969, is such a beautiful circular piece, whilst Stringed Figure (Curlew) (Maquette I), 1956, has an air of menace about it, like a Venus Flytrap plant waiting for its prey to land before devouring them. As mentioned above, there were new discoveries whose work pleased me greatly as their ideas resonated with mine and the new bodies of work I am engaged in creating. The first of these was a gorgeously ethereal, gridded structure composed of connected golden spindles draped across a wall. Having worked almost exclusively with gold leaf of late this piece really spoke to me. At first this piece reminded me of the woven works of Lenore Tawney (here), with their sense of structure derived from the loom both before and then after breaking free of the looms rigidity. Grids and their structure and disruption form the basis of my current work, and I felt an instant recognition and rapport with this work by Lenore Antunes. On seeing the title of the piece - anni #26 I - I realised that it must somehow relate to the wonderful weavings of Anni Albers. It did as I discovered, as Antunes reimagines and responds to the work of pioneering female modernists in her practice. Albers and the women weavers of the Bauhaus workshop were the inspiration behind my Struktur series so I was able to understand the appeal of this piece to myself. Anni #26 I, is beautiful and sparse. It says so very much with so little. Another artist whose works struck a similar chord with me was Yto Barrada. Her sewn canvases with bold, stitched blocks of colour are so reminiscent of the work of Ben Nicholson, and also the Gee's Bend quiltmakers (here). Stitching into paper has been an integral part of my practice since the beginning, so I enjoyed seeing her series entitled - Practice Piece (Sewing Exercise), based on sewing exercises used to train Moroccan seamstresses. They would have to successfully trace the lines of the exercises with a sewing machine before being deemed skilled enough to be taken on by textiles manufacturers. The imposingly large architectural sculptures sculptures of Louise Nevelson also deserve a mention. Constructed from disparate materials found in the street near her home they are collaged together then painted either black, white or gold to create something with a new meaning and purpose. Lastly the works here by Lebanese artist Saloua Raouda Choucair (1916-2017), again impressed me hugely. She worked across all media, creating art which appears to be based on interlocking forms combined with vibrant colour. She is a significant discovery whose body of work seems to have been previously overlooked like those of so many artists of her gender. I felt really at home in this exhibition. Although the names and the works of many here were new to me I felt a sense of recognition and kinship. I had a eureka moment where things began to make sense on the trajectory of my development. Catch this beautifully curated exhibition for yourself and I think you will be able to see what I mean.
Saloua Raouda Choucair - Poem (Ramlet el Beida), 1966-2013
Installation View
Creating Abstraction
until 12th March
Pace
5 Hanover Square
London
W1S 1HQ
