In accordance with Koraïchi’s predilection for the magical number 7 – considered significant in all the major traditions – Celestial Blue celebrates the artist’s 77th year. This exhibition includes canvas works interspersed with statuesque steel sculptures, in his characteristically figurative forms. The works on canvas are inspired by the nasibs that the 12th century Sufi mystic and writer, Ibn ‘Arabi, set down in his book of love poems, The Interpreter of Desires (1215). Each large, square canvas presents an original design produced in white on an indigo blue ground that improvises upon one of the original poems. Rather than being a direct translation, each work becomes a sustained reflection on the profundity of Ibn ‘Arabi’s original vision, offering a visual correlative to the ideas expressed in a modified, entirely contemporary form.
CURRENT EXHIBITION
In accordance with Koraïchi’s predilection for the magical number 7 – considered significant in all the major traditions – Celestial Blue celebrates the artist’s 77th year. This exhibition includes canvas works interspersed with statuesque steel sculptures, in his characteristically figurative forms. The works on canvas are inspired by the nasibs that the 12th century Sufi mystic and writer, Ibn ‘Arabi, set down in his book of love poems, The Interpreter of Desires (1215). Each large, square canvas presents an original design produced in white on an indigo blue ground that improvises upon one of the original poems. Rather than being a direct translation, each work becomes a sustained reflection on the profundity of Ibn ‘Arabi’s original vision, offering a visual correlative to the ideas expressed in a modified, entirely contemporary form.
FORTHCOMING EXHIBITION
In 2022, Vandy relocated her studio to a site adjacent to the Ropery at Chatham Historic Dock Yard – an establishment which has preserved traditional rope-making, still using original machinery from the 19th century, of which the oldest dates back to 1811. This led the artist to explore the matter and properties of rope, as she began to delve into the material’s historical importance and symbolic implications.
This series of rope sculptures was inspired by Barbara Ehrenreich’s book, ‘Dancing in the streets’, which locates the phenomenon of ‘collective joy’ as central to the origins of dance. Other contributing sources can be found in hunting rituals and the African spirit dances that transformed into carnival masquerades in the African diaspora. The vital, energetic forms are composed by shaping and hand-sewing sections of rope together, before tying off and binding the loose ends with twine or copper wire. Other rope sculptures subtly integrate incongruous found objects: cogs, pipes, washers skipping-rope handles, etc. Vandy’s vivacious curvilinear sculptures challenge the typical representation of the female form –historically subjected to the male gaze – to provide a more positive depiction that associates female abstraction with empowerment.
Alongside these sculptures, a new selection of Vandy’s striking Hull series will be shown, exploring the trade significance of indigo. The artist draws upon traditional talismans, amulets and charms to transform these model boats into ‘masks’ adorned and animated with various materials including rope, fishing floats and feathers. By continuously experimenting with different materials, LR Vandy’s remarkable assemblages, on close examination, animate the field of contemporary sculpture with haunting echoes laden with insight into issues of continuing relevance today.
NEWS, EVENTS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Tate Modern, London
The Hyundai Commission: El Anatsui: Behind the Red Moon is staged in three acts which visitors are invited to move between. The first hanging, titled The Red Moon, resembles the majestic sail of a ship billowing out in the wind, announcing the beginning of a journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Red liquor bottle-tops form the outline of a red moon, or ‘blood moon’, as it appears during a lunar eclipse.
The second sculpture, , is composed of many individual layers that evoke human figures suspended in a restless state. The ethereal appearance of these figures is achieved using thin bottle-top seals wired together to create a net-like material. When viewed from a particular vantage point, these scattered shapes come together into a single circular form of the Earth.
In Anatsui’s final hanging, The Wall, a monumental black sheet of metal cloth stretches from floor to ceiling. At its base, pools of bottle tops rise from the ground in the form of crashing waves and rocky peaks. Behind its black surface, a delicate structure of shimmering silver is revealed, covered in a mosaic of multi-coloured pieces. This combination of lines and waves, blackness and technicolour, echoes the collision of global cultures and hybrid identities that Anatsui invites us to consider throughout his work.
Entitled Everything Precious Is Fragile, this exhibition will explore the rich history of Benin, touching on themes such as the slave trade, the Amazon motif, spirituality and the Vodun religion. These themes are tied together by Benin's exploration of African feminism and pay tribute to women's versatility whilst envisioning a world where differences are seen as a source of richness and strength.
Acclaimed worldwide for his masks made from used plastic petrol cans, Romuald Hazoumè is an artist whose work is firmly rooted in Benin's social, political and cultural context and the globalized world.
Koraïchi : Tu manques même à mon ombre
Saturday, 6 April, 2024
3.00 – 4.30pm. Entry Free
Koraïchi shares with us his discourse about peace and humanism, which can be found reflected in his works and installations. Koraïchi: Tu manques même à mon ombre highlights Rachid Koraïchi’s artistic journey and his strong commitment to peace and Tolerance for all. Directed by Laurent Boullard, Koraïchi : Tu manques même à mon ombre dedicated to Rachid Koraïchi, was produced in 2021.
The film is an intimate portrait of a committed and humanist artist, recognised worldwide. Boullard is a television journalist and director of numerous news reports, investigations and documentaries for major French television channels.
(Duration: 64 mins - October Gallery theatre, 2nd Floor - This event has no disabled access).
View the Trailer for the film.
HARD/SOFT: Textiles and Ceramics in Contemporary Art, showcases work from around 40 international artists, many whose work is being exhibited in Vienna for the first time. The exhibition explores the interplay between textiles and ceramics and examines the materials’ connections with economic and political systems. Furthermore, the exhibited works investigate themes relating to cultural appropriation and post-colonialism.
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Organised into three thematic sections that intertwine narratives across time and engage over 50 artists connected to the institution, the exhibition will include El Anatsui’s installation Akua's Surviving Children from 1996. This powerful piece represents a clan of survivors from the Danish slave trade, which operated between Ghana, formerly the Gold Coast, and the Danish West Indies.
Titled Aubrey Williams: Cosmological Abstractions, 1973–85, the display consists of paintings created in the 1970s and the 1980s, and explores Williams' involvement with ecology, cosmology, music and pre-colonial civilisations.
Visitors can now discover the galleries laid out chronologically, from the 1500s to the present day, with the relationship between British art and the wider world being a major theme throughout. Each solo exhibition room, devoted to major historic figures such as William Blake and John Constable amongst others.
VISTING OCTOBER GALLERY
Bloomsbury, London
October Gallery has been instrumental in bringing to worldwide attention many of the world’s leading international artists, including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraïchi, Romuald Hazoumè, Nnenna Okore, Laila Shawa and Kenji Yoshida. The Gallery promotes the Transvangarde, the very best in contemporary art from around the planet, as well as maintaining a cultural hub in central London for poets, writers, intellectuals and artists, and hosts talks, performances and seminars, see www.octobergallery.co.uk/events
The rich diversity of art presented is an inspiration to collectors and enthusiasts. Institutions such as the British Museum, London; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany; Neue Galerie, Kassel, Germany; Setagagya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan have all collected works from October Gallery.
Founded in 1979, October Gallery is a charitable trust which is supported by sales of art, rental of the Gallery's unique facilities, grants from various funding bodies and the active support of dedicated artists, musicians, writers and many friends from around the world. The Gallery’s Education Department is inclusive of all ages from under 5’s to PGCE student and delivers a wide range of provision, see www.octobergalleryeducation.com
October Gallery is open from 12:30 to 17:30 pm, Tuesday to Saturday.
The Gallery is closed during official holidays and the entire month of August.