In conversation with Helena Stiasny
Selected artists for our 2024 residency.
On viewing Polish painter Helena Stiasny’s work, one
is reminded of John Berger’s seminal quote, “Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at”. Encapsulating a notion that would later be termed ‘the male gaze’, Berger typifies the very systems Stiasny rejects in her work.
Informed by the resurgence of feminist politics in Poland following the women’s strike protests of 2020–2021, Stiasny’s practice is inherently anti-patriarchal. It is her desire that the women in her portraits return the gaze and are understood as powerful, self-actualising beings who refuse objectification.
Stiasny’s recent paintings see the artist picturing the women she has met during her time on the Kowitz & Kravitz Residency. From a local girl she exchanged numbers
with in a bar, to a fellow resident artist, these pieces are grounded in the relationships Stiasny has built in recent months and thereby uphold a proposition key to the recent protests in her homeland - that united, we are stronger.
For catalogue of available works, please contact [email protected]
Reposted @sarahkravitzgallery
Potuguese painter João Alves selected for our 2024 international residency at Bridgepoint.
Alves’s recent works take inspiration from an enigmatic series of blue and white tile panels housed in the Palace of Mangualde in Viseu, Portugal. Created by Master Sousa Carvalho and titled The World Upside Down these uncanny scenes turn rural, house-hold life on its head - a woman returns from the hunt to find her husband nursing their baby while a donkey walks upon its hindlegs, leading it’s load bearing owner home for the night.
Intriguing to the artist due to the social critique laced within their content, Alves has reinterpreted these 18th Century panels in paint as a route to illuminating and undermining the societal conventions that still dictate and mediate our behaviour in the present.
Words by @bellabonner
🎥 olivermartins2
Portuguese artist João Alves’s recent works take inspiration from an enigmatic series of tile panels housed in the Palace of Mangualde in Viseu, Portugal. Created by Master Sousa Carvalho and titled The World Upside Down these uncanny scenes turn rural, house-hold life on its head - a woman returns from the hunt to find her husband nursing their baby while a donkey walks upon its hindlegs, leading its load bearing owner home for the night.
Intriguing to the artist due to the social critique laced within their content, Alves has reinterpreted these 18th Century panels in paint as a route to illuminating and undermining the societal conventions that still dictate and mediate our behaviour in the present.
text: @bellabonner@sarahkravitzgallery artist residency at @bridgepointrye
The exhibition is available to view by appointment until 14 December. For the sales catalogue, please contact [email protected].
(pics: @helena_stiasny )
🇬🇧 On viewing Polish painter Helena Stiasny’s work, I am immediately reminded of John Berger’s seminal quote, “Men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch themselves being looked at”. Encapsulating a notion that would later be termed ‘the male gaze’, Berger typifies the very systems Stiasny rejects in her work.
Informed by the resurgence of feminist politics in Poland following the women's strike protests of 2020–2021, Stiasny’s practice is inherently anti-patriarchal. It is her desire that the women in her portraits return the gaze and are understood as powerful, self-actualising beings who refuse objectification.
Stiasny's recent paintings see the artist picturing the women she has met during her time on the Kowitz & Kravitz Residency. From a local girl she exchanged numbers with in a bar, to a fellow resident artist, these pieces are grounded in the relationships Stiasny has built in recent months and thereby uphold a proposition key to the recent protests in her homeland - that united, we are stronger.
🇵🇱 Kiedy oglądam prace polskiej malarki Heleny Stiasny, od razu przypomina mi się słynny cytat z J. Bergera: „Mężczyźni działają, a kobiety objawiają się. Mężczyźni patrzą na kobiety. Kobiety patrzą na siebie, będąc przedmiotem oglądu”. Obrazując koncept, który później zostanie nazwany „męskim spojrzeniem”, Berger opisuje systemy, które Stiasny odrzuca w swojej twórczości.
Praktyka Stiasny, inspirowana ożywieniem polityki feministycznej w Polsce po Strajkach Kobiet w latach 2020-2021, jest w swej naturze antypatriarchalna. Artystka pragnie, aby kobiety na jej portretach odwzajemniały spojrzenie widza i były odbierane jako silne, samorealizujące się jednostki, które sprzeciwiają się uprzedmiotowieniu.
Najnowsze obrazy Stiasny przedstawiają kobiety, które artystka poznała podczas rezydencji artystycznej Kowitz & Kravitz. Od miejscowej dziewczyny, z którą wymieniła się numerami w barze, po artystkę, koleżankę z rezydencji, prace te oparte są na relacjach, które Stiasny zbudowała w ostatnich miesiącach, a tym samym podtrzymują ideę kluczową dla niedawnych protestów w jej ojczyźnie - że zjednoczone jesteśmy silniejsze.
Bella Bonner Evans
Over the course of the Kowitz & Kravitz Residency, Alfie Worrall’s practice has shifted dramatically. Having previously been focused on themes of consumerism and digital culture, the artist has since turned inwards. His recent works - depictions of lone figures in various poses of discomfort set against often anachronistic and somewhat sparse backgrounds - emerged as a result of the personal, professional and societal unease he has experienced over recent months. Aptly named the Sick works, Worrall’s series can be understood as a visual essay on the weight of living now.
Text by @bellabonner
Reposted @helena_stiasny
🔥🔥🔥 Sarah Kravitz Residency at Bridgepoint Rye spondored by the Kowitz Family Foundation!
🍂 Tej jesieni jako jedna z czwórki międzenarodowych artystów mam przyjemność przebywać na rezydencji artystycznej w południowej Anglii.
🏰 Fairlight Hall to rezydencja wybudowana w XIX-wieku, udająca styl Tudorów. Otoczona jest pięknym ogrodem obejmującym m.in. kaskadowe kwietniki, alejkę wysadzaną palmami, ekologiczne uprawy warzyw oraz widok na ocean. W słoneczne dni widzimy stąd białe klify w Dover.
🏭 Nasza pracownia znajduje się w pobliskim Rye – uroczym turystycznym miasteczku, w postindustrialnych przestrzeniach dawnej stoczni. To tam spędzamy całe dnie.
🫡 To dla mnie czas intensywnej pracy, a jej efekty będzie można zobaczyć w ostatnich dniach października podczas wystawy kończącej rezydencję.
#artistinresidence #art #emergingartist #fairlighthall #sztuka #malarstwo #helenastiasny #stiasny #sarahkravitzgallery #artcollector #sarahkravitz #artsceneuk #artworld #polishartnow #sztukawspółczesna #contemporaryart #rezydencjaartystyczna
Reposted @selvasevlaleva Working on some new paintings at @sarahkravitzgallery artist residency in @bridgepointrye
Sponsored by the kowitz family foundation.
In the studio with 3 other painters: @__aelfraed__ ,@helena_stiasny (pics) ,@makuazu
#artist #painting #art #sarahkravitzgallery #fairlighthall #contemporaryart #artistresidency #eastsussex #artcollector #selvasevlalevas #portoartist #clevagefordays #elonmusk #uselection #president #brexit #hastings #fishandchips #420 #rye #beef #medieval #castle #friends #queenshead #newconsciousness #deepstatetuesdays #rehab #robinhood #professional
Meanwhile, at Bridgepoint, our four international artists are currently engaged in their residency at @bridgepointrye , in partnership with the Kowitz Family Foundation.
Alfie Worrall (UK) Joao Alves (Portugal) Maku Azu (Ghana) and Helena Stiasny (Poland)
We are delighted to have you!
Helena Stiasny
Helena Stiasny’s latest artwork, exhibited in the duo exhibition The Blue Dress alongside the drawings of Tamara de Lempicka, offers a compelling reflection on the evolving portrayal of women. Art Deco often reinforced the image of women as both objectified and liberated figures. But was this truly a form of liberation? The femme fatale, with her striking beauty, remains a figure of seduction, her power enhanced by a confident gaze and bold makeup. However, if this image is intended to define womanhood, does it not risk being superficial or overly simplistic?
We were honored to host Helena’s first solo exhibition in London in December 2023, and we are thrilled to have her participate in this year’s residency program at Bridgepoint.
Welcome Helena💥
