Louise Giovanelli Born 1993, London (UK)
Lives and works in Manchester (UK)

Louise Giovanelli (b. 1993, London, UK) lives and works in Manchester (UK). She recently completed her postgraduate studies at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main (DE) with professor Amy Sillman in 2020, after having earned a Bachelor’s Degree (B.A. Hons, Fine Art) at the Manchester School of Art, Manchester (UK) in 2015.

Louise Giovanelli has been drawing attention as a rising young painter for her delicate, luminous works, which inject vitality into historical subjects from the canon of Western art. Through interconnected series, Giovanelli weaves together visual clues surrounding a specific moment or event. Her subject matter is primarily chosen for its formal qualities and includes, staged photographs, film stills, classical sculpture, and architectural elements. Within each series, Giovanelli repeats her motifs and certain paintings appear nearly identical, excepting slight alterations of the composition, or tonality. Deftly manipulating light and form, her multivalent imagery reminds us that the classical foundations of painting remain sources of delight and innovation. Keenly attuned to the historical significance of painting as a medium and system of representation, her paintings challenge the eye by dissolving representation into carefully crafted textures and patterns. For Giovanelli, painting allows for a visual slowing-down, and beholding her works is akin to a meditative process. 

Solo exhibitions include: Auto-da-fé, GRIMM, New York, NY (US); A Priori, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL); in medias res, Workplace, London (UK); Aerial Silk, GRIMM, New York, NY (US); Time Inside, Frutta Gallery, Rome (IT); Louise Giovanelli, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester (UK); Louise Giovanelli, Workplace Foundation, Gateshead (UK); A Throw to the Side, Warrington Museum and Art Gallery, Warrington (UK); Slow to Respond, Touchstones Gallery, Rochdale (UK); Hold your tongue, Louise Giovanelli and Pius Fox, Transition Gallery, London (UK). She has also participated in the following group exhibitions: Reflections beyond the Surface, AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); Romancing the Surface, curated by Loie Hollowell, GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL); Life Still, C.L.E.A.R.I.N.G., Brooklyn, NY (US); El oro de los tigres, Air de Paris, Romainville (FR); Touching from a Distance, curated by Workplace Foundation, The Conduit, London (UK); The Dream That Follows The Mouth, Arcade Gallery, London (UK); Tales of the haunted and the body, curated by Kuba Paris, Casa Cristea Schneider, Berlin (DE), among others. Giovanelli’s work can be found in the collections of the UK Government; Akzo Nobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); THE EKARD COLLECTION; The Grundy Gallery Collection (UK); Hill Art Foundation, New York, NY (US); Hort Family Collection, New York, NY (US); Manchester Art Gallery Collection (UK); Manchester School of Art Collection (UK); Sarow Gallery Collection (DE); The University of Salford Collection (UK); Warrington Museum and Art Gallery (UK), and a number of private collections.