Summer Marathon 2021

About

BEERS London’s annual Summer Marathon opens for its third year on 11 August. This year, 5 artists were selected (3 exhibiting in August & 2 exhibiting in January 22′) by a jury of industry professionals including New York-based gallerist Yossi Milo and California-based gallerist Lorna York, and London collector Eugenio Re Rebaudengo, amongst others. We are so excited that this year our selection of artists come from a diverse range of backgrounds and education and includes painting, textile-based pieces, ceramics, video, and other art forms. *The 2 artists exhibiting in January 22′ are Nour Jaouda & Gwil Hughes.

Joël Bigaignon: Fluctuation of Momentary Memories

Joël’s paintings are a playful blend of paper collage on wood panel reflective of life growing up on the island of Mauritius. Later in life and further into his artistic career, Joël began making work based on his memories of the annual cyclones that destroyed his family home. So deep rooted in his DNA were these events – destruction and subsequent rebuilding of his home – Joël uses materials available such as old newspapers and wallpaper, gluing new on to old, layering images of politicians and policemen on top of both old and recent news stories. Collage fuelled Joël’s imagination in such a way that led to an obsession with the process as a means of exploring the topics of memory and unfolding stories.

Gori Mora & Krzysztof Strzelecki: Mapping Desire

Poland and London based artist Krzysztof Strzelecki and Glasgow based artist Gori Mora are two artists with independent artistic practices; the gallery has paired them for this joint exhibition, titled Mapping Desire. Both artists subvert the concept of ‘Queer Art’, presenting works that appear both domestic and/or traditional, but challenge and radicalize more normative forms with a marginalized voice.

Krzysztof’s early education formed a passion for classic mythology, and an appreciation of the male form, all set against the backdrop of a somewhat strictly religious country. Playing with themes of eroticism and fantasy, Krzystof’s ceramic pieces explore LGBT+ issues of freedom and acceptance in society. His collection of vases playfully presents the gay man in a natural environment, in pieces reminiscent of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Painter Gori Mora’s work focuses on the way in which technology contributes to our social interactions and how we perceive ourselves. Gori conceptualises this subject through the creation of hypothetical Queer situations in the virtual space, hence the artists’ regular use of oil on Perspex. Gori’s work features the recurring themes of how interpersonal relationships are created through gay dating apps and the way men choose to present themselves on these platforms.