“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.” So wrote C.S. Lewis in his 1960 book, The Four Loves.
It’s funny that, for most of us, we develop all sorts of friendships across our lifespan, some lasting, some somewhat less so, but all leave us with markings, memories, and shapes. Our friends can be our biggest allies, our family, our critics, and our biggest enemies all at once, so it’s interesting to see the relationship between artists over the course of history where they were also friends.
From Camille Pissarro and Paul Cézanne’s Impressionism to Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque’s Cubism; Helen Frankenthaler and Grace Hartigan’s Abstract Expressionism to Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Neo Expressionist / Pop Art blend; these friendships have served as encouragement, elevation, and exploration, as much as places of critique and friendly rivalry.
No different in friendship are Sonia Boyce (b. London, 1962) and Zineb Sedira (b. Paris, 1963), chosen representatives of the United Kingdom and France respectively at the 2021 (delayed to 2022) 59th annual Venice Biennale.
These two artists, though of practically the same age, met initially through London’s Brixton housing co-op in 1993 and simultaneously, as Fate would have it, as teacher and student at Central St Martins whilst Boyce was lecturing there at the celebrated art school at the time and Sedira attended as a mature student.
Together they have shared a long life, as women, artists, mothers, experiences and colonial experiences, and now they are brought together again at the Biennale.
This year’s exhibition, which opens on 23 April and runs through to 27 November 2022, is titled The Milk of Dreams – a name borrowed from the Surrealist painter, Leonora Carrington’s (b. 1917 - d. 2011), writings. As Cecilia Alemani, the Biennale’s curator, explains: “[Leonora] describes a magical world where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination, and where everyone can change, be transformed, become something and someone else. The exhibition takes us on an imaginary journey through metamorphoses of the body and definitions of humanity”.
On the heels of two (and ongoing) turbulent years, this allocated theme and description might come across as being somewhat superficial or frivolous; however, Alemani and the Biennale team have brought together some incredible, grounded, challenging artists for this year’s exhibition.
Boyce, whose British-Caribbean artistic voice has been critical as well as rich in depth, story, and meaning; and Sedira, whose Franco-Algerian perspective in installations and photography tries to find words for the unnamed in human culture and geography, will no doubt add gravitas to the whimsical lightness floating in Carrington’s words.
Boyce will go on to be exhibited later this year in her inaugural showing at Simon Lee Gallery, in London.
