This autumn, The Hepworth Wakefield will present the largest solo show of Louise Giovanelli’s work to date, including a new series of specially commissioned paintings that will be displayed for the first time. 'Louise Giovanelli' opens this autumn on 23 November 2024 and runs until 27 April 2025.
The Manchester-based artist is known for her luminescent large-scale oil paintings that capture fleeting moments and sensual textures in vivid colours. Her subject matter is diverse, ranging from staged photographs to classical sculpture and architectural elements. Drawing inspiration from various sources, including Renaissance art, late 20th-century pop culture, and vintage film stills, Giovanelli often focuses on the staging of rituals and performances. Favouring classical painting techniques, Giovanelli builds up thin layers of highly pigmented oil paint to portray folds of fabric or locks of hair, notably challenging components to convey in this medium.
In her new body of work, which includes a huge triptych, two diptychs and several single panels, Giovanelli will revisit the motif of the curtain or drape. These theatrically lit and tactile curtains allow Giovanelli to explore the formal possibilities of colour, light and texture. These curtain works will be displayed alongside a selection of new and existing smaller paintings featuring closely cropped faces that ambiguously convey conflicting emotions of ecstasy and turmoil. As with many of Giovanelli’s paintings, they resist straightforward storytelling, encouraging viewers to instead focus on the atmosphere they evoke and appreciate moments that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The Hepworth Wakefield is an award-winning art gallery in the heart of Yorkshire (UK), named after Barbara Hepworth, one of the most important artists of the 20th century who was born and brought up in Wakefield. Designed by the acclaimed David Chipperfield Architects, the gallery has continued to present major exhibitions of the best international modern and contemporary art since its opening in 2011.
