Chantal Joffe brings a combination of insight and integrity, as well as psychological and emotional force, to the genre of figurative art. Defined by its clarity, honesty and empathetic warmth it is attuned to our awareness as both observers and observed beings, apparently simple yet always questioning, complex and emotionally rich. Joffe has often talked about her paintings in terms of transitions, those associated with growing and ageing, as well as her attempt to mark a life’s milestones. Esme in a Blue Skirt, 2014, depicts the artist’s daughter, eyes averted, one arm protectively covering her front, wearing a new blue skirt with appliqué animals. It touches on this key theme of Joffe’s art, one explored in her recent institutional exhibition For Esme – with Love and Squalor, held at Arnolfini, Bristol, which focused on the shifting relationship between mother and daughter over time, navigating spaces, dynamics and roles.

Born in 1969, Chantal Joffe lives and works in London. Her recent solo exhibition titled Chantal Joffe: For Esme – With Love and Squalor at Arnolfini, Bristol. UK (2020) captured the changing faces of Joffe and her daughter Esme, moving between mother and daughter and the act of care and being cared for. The acclaimed British painter has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including Royal Academy of Arts, London; Whitechapel Gallery, London; Jewish Museum, New York; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh; and Neuberger Museum of Art, New York. Her work is in numerous institutional and private collections, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; Detroit Institute of Arts; National Portrait Gallery, London; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Joffe will create a major new public work for the Elizabeth line station at Whitechapel, London, which will be on view when the Crossrail station opens in 2021. An exhibition of new work by the artist will be on view at Victoria Miro in the summer of 2021.