Reprieve x Vortic

Hernan Bas is celebrated for works that, permeated by an aura of eroticism and decadence, and loaded with codes and double-meanings, point to the intricacies of self-identity, while celebrating moments of transformation – the ordinary becoming extraordinary.

The work on view is inspired by a residency with the gallery in Venice and weaves characteristically expansive lines of enquiry around themes of masquerade and carnival. Captured at various thresholds – between youth and adulthood, innocence and experience, public and private realms the figures in Hernan Bas’ works are charged with potential.

‘Although the person bears no resemblance to me I often like to think of the nude paintings as self portraits.’— Kudzanai-Violet Hwami

Now living in the UK, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami was born in Gutu, Zimbabwe in 1993 and lived in South Africa from the ages of nine to seventeen. Her work reveals a deeply personal vision of Southern African life. Drawing on her experiences of geographical dislocation and displacement, her paintings combine visual fragments from a myriad of sources such as online images and personal photographs, which collapse past and present.

Powerful nudes are a point of departure in works such as Lotus, 2020, a new painting created especially for this presentation. In such works, Hwami boldly raises questions about the black body and its representation, as well as meditating on themes of sexuality, gender and spirituality. Speaking about this work the artist says, ‘The image comes from an archive of vintage nudes I’ve collected since 2015. Although the person bears no resemblance to me I often like to think of the nude paintings as self portraits. In fear of altering my body permanently I’ve found it best to live through an imaged self, a way to exist as a transgender male.’

‘In this painting of my friend Vincenzo, I used a chromatic palette and near-abstract depiction to give material form to the moment’s desirous and intimate feeling.’— Doron Langberg

An increasingly prominent voice among a new generation of figurative painters, Doron Langberg has gained a reputation for works that, luminous in colour and often large in scale, hinge on a sense of intimacy. Depicting himself, his family, friends, and lovers, Langberg’s paintings celebrate the physicality of touch – in subject matter and process – a closeness that engages with new dialogues around queer sensuality and sexuality.

A dynamic interplay between people and the places they inhabit, in which areas might appear boldly declarative or remain consciously indeterminate, leaving areas of abstraction, gaps, or questions, lends the work its distinctive psychological register. The dissolving of boundaries, meanwhile, speaks of inner and outer worlds, not only those occupied by the subject of each painting but by the artist and viewer as well. Speaking about Vincenzo, 2020, a new painting created especially for this presentation, Langberg says, ‘I used a chromatic palette and near-abstract depiction to give material form to the moment’s desirous and intimate feeling.’

In his work, Grayson Perry tackles subjects that are universally human: identity, gender, social status, sexuality, religion. Autobiographical references can be read in tandem with questions about décor and decorum, class and taste, and the status of the artist versus that of the artisan.

Writing about the work on view, Perry says, ‘Black Dog is the name Winston Churchill used for his depressions. This piece is about the roots of depression: emotional trauma and turmoil. Some of the drawn scenes are from my childhood…’ Commenting on the 2011 work Shrine to Alan and Claire, Perry says, ‘This is a shrine to integration. Alan Measles represents my maleness whilst Claire is associated with feelings seen as predominately female. Many problems we encounter in society come from an imbalance in the way these two sides of our personalities are dealt with…’

‘It’s a coming of age party. There is no cake but everyone wants
a slice of the girl.’— Paula Rego

An artist of uncompromising vision and a peerless storyteller, Paula Rego has since the 1950s brought immense psychological insight and imaginative power to the genre of figurative art. Drawing upon details of her own extraordinary life, on politics and art history, on literature, folk legends, myths and fairytales, Rego’s work at its heart is an exploration of human relationships, her piercing eye trained on the established order and the codes, structures and dynamics of power that embolden or repress the characters she depicts.

The works on view are from an important, though rarely seen series that tackles a host of themes of abuse and exploitation, including female genital mutilation and rape. Rego is especially celebrated for works that forcibly address aspects of female agency and resolve, suffering and survival, such as the Dog Women series, begun in 1994 and the Abortion series, 1998–99, which is considered to have influenced Portugal’s successful second referendum on the legalisation of abortion in 2007. Reflecting recently on these 2010 works, Rego comments that The Birthday Party is ‘a coming of age party. There is no cake but everyone wants a slice of the girl.’ The Overseer, Rego explains, ‘is keeping an eye on things, soothing the mother as all hands hold down her girl.’