PUBLIC
We are pleased to present 'Public', a virtual exhibition showcasing the works of artists from the United Kingdom and abroad. This collection brings together diverse interpretations of what it means to be public in today's society.
The term 'public' comes from the Latin word ‘publicus’ which is derived from 'populus’, meaning 'people'. Over time, 'public' has come to signify spaces, actions, and concepts that are open and accessible to everyone. It represents a shared experience and collective engagement.
In this exhibition, artists explore the idea of 'public' through various themes and mediums. Their works invite viewers to think about the relationship between public and private, and the communal versus the individual. From urban scenes and social issues to abstract ideas of community, these artworks challenge and expand our understanding of public life.
'Public' brings together different cultures, viewpoints, and artistic practices, creating a space for dialogue and reflection. It highlights the ability of art to connect people and foster a sense of global community.
We invite you to join us in this virtual exhibition, where art encourages us to think about the spaces we share and our roles within them.
“The core of my art lies in distorting traditional images, normalising the beauty of strangeness.”
— Delaney Reynolds
“At the heart of my practice lies a fascination with the fluidity of boundaries and the transformative power of transition. These works serve as windows into alternate realities, where the familiar and unfamiliar converge in a mesmerising dance of light and shadow.”
— Wen Liu
“I see human facial features as distinct raw materials that I can shape and manipulate to express the emotions I want to communicate, (as well as the topics and thoughts I want to discuss).”
— Islam Allam
“Reluctant to mark a definitive end, I often engage in a continual cycle of adding and removing elements, fostering self-sufficiency by sourcing material from discarded items found in bins, tips, roadsides and the foreshore.”
— Maddie Ginger
“Metaphysical curiosities are generated from improvisation and connections are drawn between life observation, spontaneous gestures and otherworldly influences.“
— Sean Powers
“I use the languages of drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography to create works that act as vessels for the viewer, packed with imagery that activated memories and thoughts, allowing itself to be filled with memories and nostalgia held by the viewer.”
— Cade Hopkins
“A visual manifesto that challenges societal perceptions of softness as weakness, advocating for the strength found in vulnerability and the courage to face pain with an open heart.”
— Joana Bernd
“I combine these living spaces with imagined otherworlds, considering the possibilities for alternate universes and the state of everything probable happening simultaneously.”
— Rowan Whittington
“For me, creating means giving people back the little things that my eyes notice.”
— Giovanni Croppo
“Using alchemic methods, she entangles traditional and modern alchemical techniques, incorporating processes like crystallisation, distillation, and extraction of natural elements such as herbs, fruits, sugar, milk, wine, wax, and glass.”
— Silke Wei
“The stories I tell are intimate and imperfect, but they reveal a void that I try to fill by preserving what is unrecordable and emphasising that these images are only an attempt, a representation.”
— Emika Lannelongue
“My work embraces different techniques and gestures, including the appropriation of found elements, the work with re-contexualised industrial objects and an extensive graphic production, altogether, dives into an investigation about the mechanisms that keep social order in place.”
— Gonzalo Miralles
“I’m interested in the bundles of patterns and reflexes that we call the self, unconsciously/consciously we add to our our ‘identity’ created an outfit/membrane around us.”
— Shilpi Deb
“It’s a reflection on how identity and belonging emerge organically from our coexistence with our natural environments.”
— Flora Dorian
“Ecology as a reaction towards technocratic practices, and a profound connection with the realms of gaming, cyberspace and pop subcultures.”
— Babak Ahteshamipour
“Using found imagery along with personal archives I construct and form my own narratives to build an understanding of what I believe consists of motherhood, revisiting the grief that happened from the perspective of the present through the manipulation of paint.”
— Darcey whent
“The inconvenience and inappropriateness of play is the superpower of childhood, the growth of which slows and stops, organises and turns abstraction into ornament, magic into structure.”
— Mariia Pirovskikh
“After working in a ward for more than three years, a nurse, whose eyes no longer smile, discovers myself narrating the preparation process for colonoscopy almost like reciting a script, delivering it with a gentle voice. These experiences were eeries to me, so my work usually emerged as narratives based on dehumanisation due to mechanical tasks and the sense of powerlessness of the recurring deaths.”
— Yujin Jeong
“My drawings are autobiographical reconstructions, addressing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, paranoia, worries, and overthinking.”
— Dageong Han
“These self-projections of transparency have also revealed an organic cellular aspect hidden in ordinary perception.”
— Benjamin Stezaker
“Questioning the presence of property and who it belongs to.”
— Sara Afonso
Artist Statements
n. 1 - n. 21
The Public Exhibition
Adam Weigel
Agostina De Felice
Alice Bush
Angelina Van Der Neut
Anna Presilia
Annabelle Parrish
Babak Ahteshamipour
Bangte Xu
Becca Cooper
Benjamin Stezaker
Beth Mcalester
Byron Babbs
Cade Hopkins
Cara Distefano
Carolyn Watson
Chara Kontopoulou
Charlotte Young
Dageong Han
Darcy Whent
Delaney Reynolds
Duong Thuy Nguyen
Ekaterina Zhingel
Elena Hartley
Ellis Thomas-Pam
Elouan Le Bars
Elsy Bao
Emika Lannelongue
Enxi Liu
Euphrosyne Andrews
Felipe Sepúlveda
Fil Campos
Flora Dorian
Galina Bakinova
Gary Lapointe Jr.
Giovanni Croppo
Gleb Makrushin
Go Eun Kim
Gonzalo Miralles
Henrico Paul Greyling
Imrana Tanveer
Islam Allam
Jay Rechsteiner
Jiacun Li
Joana Bernd
Jun Shya
June Chan
Junshu Gu
Justine Lesage
Lalita Brunner
Laur Kennedy
Lauren Mcdougall
Lee Kay-Barry
Liuba Arutiunova
Livia De Magistris
Liz Melling
Liza Molnár
Luka Cvetkovic
Lydia Stonehouse
Maddy Ginger
Mariia Pirovskikh
Martyna Pekala
Melissa Welcome
Mengqi Xia
Mia Hoskins
Micaela Ortega
Michael Hanna
Mimi Lanfranchi
Monã Padma Tso
Nabilla Wardhana
Nadia Thompson
Nancy Pilkington
Nengi Nelson
Nikolija Stanojevic
Nina Gonzalez-Park
Ot Xintong Qin
Riccardo Pacitti
Richard Matthews
Roberta Schreyer
Rowan Whittington
Ruben Pike
Sahen Naidoo
Samuel Domínguez
Sangwon Jo
Santiago Migliorero
Sara Afonso Sternberg
Sean Powers
Sebastián Espejo
Shengqi Kong
Shi Yun Teo
Shilpi Deb
Silke Weissbach
Sophie Schweizer
Sophie Smorczewski
Soyeon Kim
Susan Kellaway
Valentino Russo
Vanda Vlašič
Wen Liu
Wenhui Nie
Wren Ossman
Xuanjie Huang
Yuehan Yang
Yujin Jeong
Yusif Zadeh
Zhengwei Li
Zijing Chen
Zoe Whatley
Zully Mejia
The Public Exhibition
Exhibiting Artists
a-z
The Public Exhibition
Video Artists
n.1 - n.3
Shapes & Things would like to thank you for lending us your eyes and time.
To all of the artists involved, your art and input is infinitely appreciated. We have set out to provide a platform to show the diversity of experience, perception and function in the public domain. We are extremely proud to present works from artists that span different disciplines, locales and points of origin.
We hope to have provoked some thought, conversation or feeling. Until next time.
Love from the curators,
Monã & Téa
Catalogue of Works
n. 1 - n. 144
The Public Exhibition