Archives: Exhibitions
America in Crisis will bring together 40 leading American photographers and over 120 works exploring social change in the U.S from the 1960s till today. Organised by Saatchi Gallery, the exhibition is curated by Sophie Wright, Gregory Harris from Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, and LA-based photographer and academic Tara Pixley.
America in Crisis was a ground-breaking group initiative originally conceived in 1969 to assess the state of the nation. This Magnum Photos project was led by American photographer Charles Harbutt and Lee Jones, then Magnum’s New York bureau chief. This group project turned a critical eye on the U.S at a time of great social, political and cultural change, and examined key events in 1968 leading up to Nixon’s inauguration. The 2022 exhibition at Saatchi Gallery will create a dialogue between the original historical photographs from the 1969 Magnum project and new works produced five decades later, by diverse contemporary practitioners, during another tumultuous time in America.
Revisiting and updating this exhibition creates a unique dialogue between leading photographers from 1968, such as Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt and Mary Ellen Mark, and the works of 2020 contemporaries, such as Kris Graves, Balazs Gardi, Zora J Murff, Sheila Pree Bright and Stacy Kranitz. The exhibition highlights the themes present in both eras, confronting the myth of American exceptionalism with the reality of current events.
The original America in Crisis project was conceived not only as an exhibition and publication but as an experimental film and installation. In keeping with the interactive presentation of the original project, the 2022 exhibition will include an immersive and interactive installation that speaks to contemporary image consumption.
Featured Artists
Historical Photographs by
Bruce Davidson,Burk Uzzle,Burt Glinn,Charles Harbutt,Cornell Capa,Constantine Manos,Elliott Erwitt,Eve Arnold,Hiroji Kubota,Marc Riboud,Mary Ellen Mark,Paul Fusco,Roger Malloch,Wayne Miller
Contemporary Photographers
Anastasia Samoylova, Balazs GardiDustin Chambers, Eli Reed, Gabriella Demczuk, Gabrielle Lurie, Gregory Halpern, Hannah Yoon, Jessica Phelps, Josue Rivas, Kennedi Carter, Kris Graves, Kristine Potter, Leah Millis, Matt Black, Natalie Keyssar, Paul D’Amato, Peter Van Agtmael, Philip Montgomery, Robert Cohen, Rose Marie Cromwell, Sheila Pree Bright, Stacy Kranitz, Todd Heisler, Verónica G. Cárdenas, Zora J Murff
SPECIAL THANKS
Magnum Photos and Kummer & Hermann
Saatchi Gallery collaborates with curators to select works direct from the studios of artists in order to present a range of diverse & experimental artworks to a larger audience.
Synthesis brings together a multifaceted and impressive collection of works by an exciting heterogenous group of artists.
Artists featured in Synthesis are:
Hawazin Alotaibi
Solanne Bernard
Camilla Bliss
Vilte Fuller
Harriet Gillett
Taru Happonen
Melissa Kitty Jarram
Kaitlin Johnson
Jo Kitchen
Linda Linko
Alexi Marshall
Emily Moore
Kemi Onabule
Llinos Owen
Rhiannon Salisbury
Valerie Savchits
Amba Sayall-Bennett
Julie-Ann Simpson
Ellie Wang
Salomé Wu
A Group Show Curated by Delphian Gallery
Art After Dark: Our doors will stay open late until 9PM, with our exhibition ‘America in Crisis’ on view.
Explore over 120 seminal works by 40 leading American photographers, exploring decades of social change in the US from 1960s until today.
“This absorbing exhibition leaves you stupefied by the crisis that’s beginning.” – The Guardian
“Honest & thought-provoking imagery from those who are actually embedded in the stories.” – PORT Magazine
“Striking.” – CNN Style
“Thoroughly recommend. Hard-hitting.” – Nick Curtis, Evening Standard
Some additional exhibitions may also be on display on our First & Second floor galleries.
FRIDAY 18 MARCH, until 9PM
Walk-ins welcome. Prebooking advised.
Admission is free for our Members. Members also receive 2 drinks tokens, Saatchi Store discounts, and additional benefits.
Galleries are open to the public for extended hours from 10am to 9pm.
Saatchi Gallery collaborates with curators to select works direct from the studios of artists in order to present a range of diverse & experimental artworks to a larger audience.
Artists featured in Studio: Response[#2] are:
Luke Hannam
Tom Norris
Luke Routledge
Luke Hannam is a contemporary romantic painter based in Rye East Sussex. He is also the bass player and formative member of Post Punk band Gramme. Hannam describes his paintings as raw, romantic responses to the visceral experience of love and desire. Hannam’s work is instantly recognisable by their scale and intense ferocity. Hannam is represented by the internationally respected Anima-Mundi Gallery in St Ives Cornwall and had his first solo show with the Gallery in 2021.
Tom Norris is an artist that lives and works in London. His work is collected and exhibited across the UK. For him the process of making ceramic vessels embodies ideas about communication through objects and surface.
Luke Routledge works across a range of media including sculpture, painting, animatronics and animation. These various media are employed to detail a fictional landscape and its inhabitants in an ever-expanding world building project.
Curated by Dominic Beattie
About
#SAATCHILATES
Our doors will stay open late until 9PM, with our headline exhibition ‘London Grads Now. 21’ on view. Some additional exhibitions may also be on view in our Ground & Lower Ground floor galleries.
UPCOMING:
FRIDAY 3 DECEMBER, 6PM – 9PM
Walk-ins welcome. Prebooking advised.
Gallery 1: UAL: Chelsea College of Arts 5PM: Meet artist Michael Dohr + meet curator Juan Bolivar
Gallery 2: Slade School of Art 6PM: Join in with artist Magnus Ayers ‘speed runner’ performance by playing a video game to compete for a world record + performance & reading by artist & curator Victoria Cantons
Gallery 3: Goldsmiths University Scan the QR codes to interact with featured artworks
Gallery 4: UAL: Camberwell College of Arts 6PM: Long Yuan screening of his West Bund, Shanghai exhibition & meet artist Matt King for a Q&A + meet curator Juan Bolivar
Galleries 5 & 6: Royal College of Art 7.30PM: Performance by artist Yukako Tanaka, 8PM: Performance by artist Anna-Lena Krause & group + meet co-curator Thomas Hjelm
Gallery 7: UAL: Central Saint Martins 6PM: Performance by artist Niko Pazzaglia with her bridle & flyers 8PM: Reading performance by artist Ying Xin
Gallery 8: Kingston School of Art 7PM: Performance by artist Amy Gillies & her experimental spoken word piece curated by the II Platform.
Gallery 9: Joint universities room Meet artist Ronan Porter
Please check our website & social media for news on special curator talks, live performances & entertainment – unique to each late and all at no extra cost.
More dates to be announced. Galleries are open to the public for extended hours from 10am to 9pm.
About
“London Grads Now. 21is a wonderful world of stranger things, both reflecting on the pandemic & rising above it” – Ruth Millington, Art historian, critic & author
London Grads Now. 21 is a graduate-led showcase running from 4 November 2021 through to 16 January 2022. Initially conceived in 2020 as a response to the unprecedented cancellation of degree shows, the second edition aims to support and highlight emerging artists of today and features fresh work from over 200 MA graduates of seven leading London art schools, all under one roof. All the proceeds from sales of artworks are retained by the artists.
“This exhibition will showcase some of the best new artistic talent our city has to offer and represents another brilliant reason for visitors and Londoners to come back into central London to visit our world class galleries as part of the Mayor’s Let’s Do London campaign. More than 200 artworks created by the next generation of artists will be on display – each one represents a triumph for art against the setbacks faced by so many emerging artists during the pandemic.”- Justine Simons OBE, Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries
The major exhibition presents a survey of London’s emerging art scene, with new works selected, spanning moving image, assemblage, installation, performance, painting, sculpture, photography, and drawing. Curators have selected artworks focusing on themes including environmentalism, gender identity, post-pandemic reflections, UK racial politics as well as explorations of the human psyche.
The exhibition will include MA graduates from: Goldsmiths University (curated by LaTosha Monique), UAL: Camberwell College of Arts, UAL: Chelsea College of Arts (both curated by Juan Bolivar), UAL: Central Saint Martins (curated by Jingwen Weng & Lingfei Rena Song), UCL: Slade School of Art (curated by Victoria Cantons), Royal College of Art (curated by Thomas Hjelm & Lauren Bevan), and Kingston School of Art (curated remotely from Tehran, Iran by Shahrzad Jahan). The exhibition identity was developed by UAL: Camberwell College of Arts MA graduate Tom White.
Nine galleries across two floors will be utilised for this headline show, with dedicated exhibition space allocated to each school: including new participating school, Kingston University, and a Saatchi Gallery curated space featuring large-scale works from all the schools combined.
London Grads Now. 21 offers a unique insight into exceptional teaching techniques, artistic practices, and cultural approaches – a microcosm of the diversity of London.
Curators Quotes:
“A second wave of provoked ingenuity; this selection of graduates continues to define themselves through their fortitude and resilience. It has been our privilege to work amongst this community of artists that relentlessly inspire and uplift one another – a willingness to embrace the raw and unknown with unflinching certainty.” – Thomas Hjelm & Lauren Bevan, Royal College of Art
“The artworks selected reveal the confines of human knowledge, demonstrate the artists’ tolerance and diverse understandings of the unfamiliar and the unusual, and highlight mankind’s relentless quest for adventures and new discoveries.” – Jingwen Weng & Lingfei Rena Song, UAL: Central Saint Martins
“London Grads Now .21 at Saatchi Gallery has been such a uniquely incredible project to be a part of. From my personal experience, to curate an exhibition space without even stepping foot in the gallery itself is incredible and I feel honored to be part of the project, defying the odds – a testament to the power and beauty of collaboration we must take from overcoming challenges in lockdown and how connecting virtually can sometimes be a powerful tool to connect, and break down barriers.” – Shahrzad Jahan, Kingston University
“The London Grads Now. 21 exhibition is a beautiful opportunity to show the works of dedicated artists who persevered through the most challenging of times due to Covid-19. The selected work provides a look as to how creativity plays an active role in sustaining our collective well-being. This collection is reflective of the safe havens explored internally, which informed a diverse form of creative processes.” – LaTosha Monique, Goldsmiths University
Featured Artists
UAL: CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS
Michael Dohr
Nisa Khan
Emma Liao
Yuxuan Shi
Lanhe Sun
Melania Toma
Rosalie Wammes
UCL: SLADE SCHOOL OF ART
Latifah A Stranack
Haydn Albrow
Fiorella Angelini
Magnus Ayers
Jaz Bartlett
Flora Bradwell
Sophie Mei Birkin
Victoria Cantons
Chunshu Cao
María Camila Cepeda Gnecco
Ziwei Gong
Kyle Howie
Hee Jyung Kim
Minyoung Kim
Megan Klosterman
Eva Kraljic
Penelope Kupfer
Bichsaem Kwon
Grace Mattingly
Lindsey Jean Mclean
Hannah Morgan
I. Nakhla
Louise Oates
Abi Ola
Yuli Serfaty
Khushna Sulaman-Butt
GOLDSMITHS, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
Ahren Warner
Ana Dzinic
Charlie Yetton
Diana Zrnic
Elad Argaman
Eleni Zervou
Evelina Hägglund
Georgina Hill
Iva Laterza
Jan Berger
LaTosha Monique
Liwia Dekert
Loftomattic
MH Sarkis
Maddy Plimmer
Mariana Pessoa Mauricio
Niamh Schmidtke
Nana Wolke
Paweł Dziadur
Sara Rainoldi
Sherie Sitauze
Sihan Ling
Uchercie Tang
Yian Chen
UAL: CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS
Koshiro Akiyama
Afrah Omar Babkair
Heidi Borg
Olivia Bouzyk
Sayan Chanda
Hugh Goodfellow
Reda Grigaraviciute
Kishwar Kiani
Matt King
Yi Lin
Melitta Nemeth
Augustus Nweke
Margarida Pinheiro
Constanza Pulit
Yoel Ramis
Victoria Rotaru
John Sachpazis
Gemma Thompson
Tom White
Mel Woo
Yue Xiao
Long Yuan
ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART
Albeiro R Tomedes
Alex Lewis
Alexandra Diez de Rivera
Amalie Gabel
Anna-Lena Krause
Anne Carney Raines
Art Sokoloff
Catherine Repko
C Lucy R Whitehead
Camilla Bliss
Daniel Wheeler
Esther Merinero
Emil Lombardo
Frances Knee
Graham Martin
Ġulja Holland
Hamit Üçok
Hawazin Alotaibi
Hoa Dung Clerget
Hsi-Nong Huang
Janina Frye
Jesse May Fisher
Junwei Chen
Kalman Pool
Katya Granova
Kirsty Sim
László von Dohnányi
Lauren Bevan
Melanie Issaka
Mia Faithfull
Myro Wulff
Ning Zhou
Noah Petri
Nour Jaouda
Nuno Gil
Oisín O’Brien
Po Lam Chan
River Cao
Richard Burton
Rin Coppola
Ronan Porter
Savvas Theofanous
Samuel Padfield
Sergei Zinchuk
Sophie Giller
Sophie Goodchild
Sten Link
Svetlana Talanova
Thomas Hjelm
Yukako Tanaka
UAL: CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS
Clara Fantoni
Charlotte Cuny
Feng Feng
Holly Hewitt
Leanne Wiggers and Lisa-Marie Harris
Louise Ward Morris
Marie-Louise Jones
Niko Pazzaglia
Rochak Timilsina
Samson Shepheard-Walwyn
Steffi Callaghan
Tristan Albrecht
Whitney-Jade Halsted
Will Britten
Ying Xin
Yuezhu Chen
Zeynep Sagir
Zhengwei Li
KINGSTON UNIVERSITY
Amirali Kalantari
I-Ling Lai
Xiaoxuan Long
Gabriela Pitanga
Little Red
Lyndsay Russell
Paula Wilkins
Weishan Yang
COMBINED SCHOOLS GALLERY
Kalman Pool (ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART)
Ronan Porter (ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART)
Marta Klara (UAL: CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS)
Lindsey Jean McLean (UCL: SLADE SCHOOL OF ART)
Meg Klosterman (UCL: SLADE SCHOOL OF ART)
Melania Toma (UAL: CHELSEA COLLEGE OF ARTS)
John Sachpazis (UAL: CAMBERWELL COLLEGE OF ARTS)
Weishan Yang (KINGSTON UNIVERSITY)
LaTosha Monique (GOLDSMITHS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON)
Charlie Yetton (GOLDSMITHS UNIVERSITY OF LONDON)
About Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. The only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the world, it offers postgraduate degrees in art and design to students from over 60 countries. Notable alumni from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries include the sculptors Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, painters Frank Auerbach, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Sir Peter Blake and Charles Tunnicliffe, artists Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin and R. B. Kitaj, fashion designers Ossie Clark and Zandra Rhodes, industrial designers James Dyson and David Mellor, film directors Tony and Ridley Scott, writer Travis Jeppesen, designers Thomas Heatherwick and Sir David Adjaye, prominent member of the suffragette movement Sylvia Pankhurst, the musician Ian Dury and the actor Alan Rickman.
About UCL: Slade School of Fine Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art is the art school of University College London and is based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1871, it has offered female students education on equal terms as men from the outset and has been ranked on numerous occasions as as the UK’s top art and design educational institution. Since its inception the Slade has been at the forefront of developments in the field of contemporary art and welcomed students from all over the world. The school is organised as a department of UCL’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. Notable alumni include include Gwen John, Augustus John RA, Walter Sickert RA, Paul Nash, Sir Stanley Spencer CBE RA, Dora Carrington, Euan Uglow, Richard Hamilton CH, Derek Jarman, Martin Creed, Dame Paula Rego DBE RA, Mona Hatoum, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi CBE RA, Sir Antony Gormley OBE, Cecily Brown, Dame Rachel Whiteread DBE, Jenny Saville RA, Phyllida Barlow CBE RA, Tacita Dean CBE RA, Michael Armitage, Zhi Lin, Raymond Briggs CBE and Charli XCX.
About Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London is a public research university in London, England, specialising in the arts, design, humanities, and social sciences. It is a constituent college of the University of London. It was founded in 1891 as Goldsmiths’ Technical and Recreative Institute by the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths in New Cross, London. Notable alumni include Damien Hurst, Antony Gormley, Lucian Freud, Bridget Riley, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Gary Hume, and Sarah Lucas. The inclusion of alumni from Goldsmiths was generously supported by the Exhibitions Hub, Goldsmiths University of London.
About UAL: Chelsea College of Arts
Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, UK, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, spatial design and textile design up to PhD level. Notable alumni include Frank Bowling, Helen Chadwick, Anish Kapoor, Steve McQueen, Haroon Mirza, Mariko Mori, Mike Nelson, Chris Ofili, James Richards, Mark Wallinger, and Saskia Olde Wolbers.
About UAL: Camberwell College of Arts
Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, and is regarded as one of the UK’s foremost art and design institutions. It is located in Camberwell in South London, England, with two sites, located in Peckham Road and Wilson Road. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. The College has retained single degree options within Fine Art, offering specialist Bachelor of Arts courses in painting, sculpture, photography and drawing. The College also runs graduate and postgraduate courses in art conservation and fine art as well as design courses such as graphic design, illustration and 3D design. Notable alumni include Franko B (artist), Jeff Banks (graphic designer and TV presenter), Sue Clowes (fashion designer), Neisha Crosland (textile designer).
About UAL: Central Saint Martins
Across art, design and performance the students and staff of Central Saint Martins create ideas, materials and actions for a better future. Among our alumni shaping the world through creative action are Grace Wales Bonner, Matty Bovan, Michael Fassbender, Isamaya Ffrench, Antony Gormley, Craig Green, Isaac Julien, Jean Julien, Ib Kamara, Christopher Kane, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Morag Myerscough, Mowalola Ogunlesi, Sandy Powell, Laure Prouvost, Simone Rocha, and Yinka Shonibare.
About Kingston University London: School of Art
Kingston School of Art is an art and design faculty located in south-west London. It is a constituent part of Kingston University, London. The school was first established in 1899 as Kingston School of Science and Art. In 1930 it was established as a separate school and has been based on its own art school campus since 1939. During the 2018 / 2019 academic year the school started to teach humanities and social sciences. Notable alumni include artists David Nash and Fiona Banner, designer Jaspar Morrison and fashion designers John Richmond and Helen Storey as well as architect David Chipperfield. Professors in the faculty include Mike Nelson and Elizabeth Price.
About
Saatchi Gallery and CW+, the charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, have partnered to present a first-of-its-kind ‘Arts in Health’ exhibition.
Journeys: The Healing Arts, is a selection of bespoke artworks from the CW+ art collection, commissioned to enhance the environment and improve patient outcomes at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. This is the first time CW+ has exhibited artworks from its collection on this scale to a wider public within a gallery setting.
Featuring comissioned works by the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (CW+) including:
Anouk Mercier, Gary Embury, Lucy Ward, Emily Thomas, Olivier Kugler, Tim King, Carlos Penalver, Accademia, Paolo Estrella, Min Young Kim, James Hope-Falkner, Owen Diplock, Dan Stockmann, Morgan Beringer, Kit Mead, Eda Sarman, Sara Choudhrey, Stateless Studios, Genesis Arts and a never-before-seen digital work by Brian Eno.
Brian Eno, British musician and featured artist, says: “To be part of the CW+ exhibition at Saatchi Gallery is a great honour. For a number of years, I’ve worked with the CW+ team in creating works that provide a positive and calming environment, something that seems vital in a patient’s experience and recovery. My latest work, Midlands, aims to take patients on both a physical and emotional journey, to hopefully relieve some of the anxiety or pain they might be experiencing. It is fantastic to be exhibited in such a splendid gallery alongside so many other wonderful artworks all with a mutual aim of expediting healing through art.”
Laura Uccello, Director of Partnerships at Saatchi Gallery, says: “Working closely with CW+ has allowed Saatchi Gallery to share free access to contemporary art to their wide hospital community. We are delighted to be exhibiting ‘Journeys’ and sharing with our visitors the meaningful impact that the visual arts have on Chelsea Westminster Hospital’s commissioned artists, patients, volunteers and staff members.”
Trystan Hawkins, Arts Director at CW+, says: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Saatchi Gallery to present this unique exhibition. Thanks to our generous supporters, we’re able to work with these incredible artists to transform the hospital experience and environment for our patients, their families and our hardworking staff. I am delighted that for the first time the wider community can now also enjoy these artworks and learn more about our innovative programme of work.”
ABOUT CW+ AND THEIR AWARD-WINNING ARTS IN HEALTH PROGRAMME
CW+ is the official charity of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust including its hospitals and clinics. The charity’s generous supporters and partners enable it to:
• Build and enhance clinical facilities to create an outstanding healing environment for patients and staff
• Deliver a unique arts in health programme to transform the experience and wellbeing of our patients
• Invest in health innovation to deliver exceptional patient care
Our arts in health programme combines digital, visual and performing arts with innovative design to transform the hospital experience and environment for patients, their families and the staff who care for them. Our visual and digital arts collection, displayed in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, is made up of over 2,000 artworks, many of which are bespoke commissions.
CWPLUS Registered Charity No.1169897
ABOUT CHELSEA AND WESTMINSTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the top ranked and top performing hospital trusts in the UK. We employ more than 6,000 staff over our two main hospital sites, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital, and across 12 community-based clinics within North West London. We were rated Outstanding for Well-Led and Use of Resources by the Care Quality Commission.
Presented by
About
LG presents ‘Media art; reinterpreted time’, showcasing LG OLED Art, which reinterprets the concept of time in contemporary art through newly commissioned works by emerging artists. Each represents different core themes embedded within time; resistance, infinity, mortality and nature. The emerging artists include Luke Stephenson, JEBAAK and Ruofan Chen.
Breathing new life into digital art, Media art; reinterpreted time will display works created by a a group of international artists, including Ruofan Chen, JEBAAK and Luke Stephenson. Recognised for his collaboration with fashion designer Dries Van Noten, British photographer Luke Stephenson will present a series of playful artworks portraying birds, drawing on his lifelong obsession with the species. Alongside Stephenson’s works, Media art; reinterpreted time will show a selection of video installations by JEBAAK, a Korean artist, whose practice focuses on Zen Buddhism. Using data from Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, JEBAAK created Morpho Luna: data-based artworks exploring energy flows and human spirituality. Also featured in the exhibition, Ruofan Chen will showcase a selection of works comprised from dog hair and tree trunks, drawing on the significance of creating emotional connections with the natural world.
LG’s OLED technology utilises pixels that turn on and off individually (‘self-lit’) to achieve immaculate colour reproduction and infinite contrast, resulting in exceptionally lifelike colours as well as deep blacks and a contrast ratio that maximizes immersion and realism. The OLED technology utilised to display these works creates a unique visual experience.
The exhibition at Saatchi Gallery has been curated by Jason Kim of BESIGN and will be presented within an immersive temporary architectural structure, inspired by Venetian palazzos and created by London-based designer Je-Uk Kim of JiB design studio. Media art; reinterpreted time is the next step in LG’s series of artistic programming, following a recent partnership with Frieze London. With the recently announced Seoul’s plan for a metaverse platform, LG is planning to join the augmented reality in the near future.
About
To mark the launch of Halo Infinite, the latest installment in the iconic video game franchise, an original epic, large-scale oil painting is on view in Gallery 4. Created by Iva Troj, the Brighton-based 2016 Palm Award Winner and 2019 CAF Artist Of The Year, the 6m x 3m canvas depicts in minute detail a scene inspired by Halo Infinite. The scene shows franchise protagonist, The Master Chief, locked in battle with his alien enemy: the spark of rebellion in the center of the painting ignites scores of battles nearby, as the Chief inspires the marines around him to become heroes.
The work was created in Troj’s Brighton studio using oil on canvas, with details and techniques that Troj is known for in her original works, which typically blend Renaissance and postmodern styles giving a dreamlike feel. Titled the ‘Master Piece”, playing on Halo’s lead character’s name, the piece elevates a decades-old cultural icon from pop culture to high culture, blending Renaissance art with cutting edge entertainment and reminding fans and new audiences alike that videogames are, indeed, works of art. “I was challenged to create a work in my own style, which typically has a dreamlike and sometimes fantastical quality, but ensuring that it’s instantly recognisable as Halo,” said artist Iva Troj. “I consequently spent a long time immersing myself in Halo’s universe to bring this to life in the manner of an old master but depicting a modern battle, and I hope Halo fans and gamers everywhere enjoy the results – including those smaller Easter eggs that you might not notice at first glance. A rare combination of digital and traditional painting skills was required, as I worked alongside the 343 Industries development team; the painting was completed in just over a month.”
The public can view the painting for free at Saatchi Gallery, as well as at the world-renowned Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, where a smaller replica will be on display until December 19
Oxford Circus also saw a Halo Infinite themed takeover with a stunning projection mapped onto the Microsoft Experience Centre facade in which a Warthog, the famous transport from the Halo games, is air-lifted to the ground in front of the iconic Halo ring.
“It’s fantastic to see London coming alive as part of the huge global launch for Halo Infinite,” said Joseph Staten, Head of Creative at Halo developer 343 Industries. “We’re so excited to get this game in the hands of our players – both those that have been with us since the beginning as well as newer gamers – all ready to jump into an epic sci-fi universe and experience our most adventure-filled Halo game yet.”
“Xbox and Halo both turned 20 last month and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate that than with such unique activities, giving our fans and the public a chance to see something special,” said James Butcher, Head of Xbox UK & Ireland. “They are a fitting way to conclude what has been a string of successful AAA game releases over recent weeks.” ‘Master Piece’ is available to view now for free at Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea; the public can find the piece in Gallery 4.