BASEL.- Von Bartha is now presenting two solo exhibitions by internationally renowned artists Anna Dickinson and Hulda Guzmán in the gallery’s Basel space, that opened yesterday and will end 28 January 2023. In a significant departure for the artist, Anna Dickinson’s new body of work invites viewers to interact with her glass and metal sculptures in new ways. For Guzmán’s first solo exhibition in Switzerland, the artist displays a new series of paintings. In the gallery’s North space, the first thematic ‘Exploring the archive’ exhibition looks at von Bartha’s relationship to Surrealist artists over its 50 year history.
Anna Dickinson PORTAL
Anna Dickinson‘s unique glass pieces experiment with innovative material combinations, often allowing the material to guide and govern the creative process. Drawing inspiration from across the art and design spheres, Dickinson’s work is particularly influenced by architecture – notably the progressive glass and steel constructions characteristic of 1990s Japan – geology and science fiction.
For the Basel exhibition Dickinson has for the first time created large-scale works, inviting viewers to interact with and explore different perspectives, reflections and abstractions. Predominantly constructed from metal and glass, additional synthetic materials are used to create an apparent lightness to the forms. Major new work ‘Portal’, displayed on the floor, has been created using seven different pieces allowing viewers to look down onto an apparent abyss within the glass material. Of these new works Dickinson says ‘I have always been drawn to the circular form, it represents a feeling of totality and perfection to me, the perfect geometric form.’
In another first for the artist, a wall hung piece created solely in metal with multiple folds reference the artist’s fascination with materials. Responding to her surroundings during two year’s of extended isolation in the pandemic, Dickinson interacted in new ways with metal materials developing their use in her practice.
Hulda Guzmán FÁBULAS
Known for her technicolour tropical paintings, Guzmán’s work condures dreamlike realities influenced by surrealism, Mexican muralism and Caribbean folk traditions. Reflecting on her surroundings, Guzmán’s paintings are charged with postcolonial and ecological discourse, featuring rainforests, animals, humans and sometime’s herself. Her vibrant paintings pay homage to the naďve tropical landscapes of Henri Rousseau, and in application are inspired by a myriad of sources from ancient Chinese art to Japanese ukiyo.
Within the six new paintings made for the Basel exhibition, completed during recent ecological disasters in the Dominican Republic, both large and small-scale works feature scenes both exterior and interior of the artist’s own studio. In ‘Shelter from the Storm’ (2022) the viewer is confronted with a dream-like scene of the animal kingdom in a human domestic setting – cows, cats and goats are among the creatures represented, drawn from those Guzmán is closest to in her life – seeking an apparent warmth and closeness against a dark and stormy exterior sky. Elsewhere an entirely abstract canvas ‘Keep the sun in your heart’ (2022), uses pointillism techniques to create a mystic otherworldly quality to the landscape.
Exploring the Archive: On Surrealism
In the first exhibition from ‘Exploring the Archive’, a research project examining more than 50 years of the gallery’s work, von Bartha presents a tribute to artists of the surrealistic movement with whom the gallery has had a serious appreciation over several years. Featuring work by Yves Laloy, Konrad Klapheck, Fleury-Joseph Crépin and Pierre Roy this group exhibition throws the light also on historical publications and biblophilic treasures, documents and photographs.
About Anna Dickinson, b. 1961 London/ Lives and works in London, is constantly experimenting; she possesses a curiosity which, associated with her hard-working, perfectionist temperament, preserves her from all superficial- ity. Her sculpture’s primary materials, glass, metal, and synthetics, govern her creative process. Cast, carved and transformed across several years or months, each unique piece asks fundamental questions about materials. Vessel forms have been fundamental to Dickinson’s practice to date. Originally drawn to the vessel for its ‘accessibility and humility’, Dickinson has begun to create larger-scale works displayed on the floor as well as wall-based sculptures.
Dickinson graduate from Royal College of Art (RCA) in 1985 with an MA in Glass, prior to this she received a BA in Three-Dimensional Design from Middlesex University. Her work is held in prestigious international collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA and the Coburg Museum, Germany and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. She has previously exhibited in London, Paris, Munich, Florida, Basel, and Tokyo and was visiting lecturer at the RCA from 2015 – 2019.
About Hulda Guzmán, b. 1984 in Santo Domingo / Lives and works in Dominican Republic, received a BA from Altos de Chavón School of Design in the Dominican Republic and went on to study photography and mural painting at the National School of Visual Arts, Mexico.
Her work is included in the permanent collections of He Art Museum (HEM), Guangdong, CN; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA); the Dallas Museum of Art, TX; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), CA; Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL; Museu de Arte de Săo Paulo (MASP), Săo Paulo, Brazil; and Centro Leon Jimenes, Puerto Rico, among others. Guzmán has been featured in the Dominican Republic’s pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. Guzmán has shown with Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK; Alexander Berggruen, NY; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA; Dio Horia Gallery, Mykonos; Arte BA, Buenos Aires; Galería Machete, Mexico City; Gallery Ariane Paffrath Dusseldorf; and at institutions such as Denver Art Museum, CO; Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo; the Pérez Art Museum Miami, FL; Museo de Arte de Săo Paulo, Brazil; Museo de Arte y Diseńo Contemporáneo, Costa Rica; and Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC.
Exhibition Facts:
Title: ANNA DICKINSON - PORTAL / HULDA GUZMÁN - FÁBULAS
Exhibition dates: 12 November 2022 to 28 January 2023
