Corona Hammer - A Breakthrough Year
Written by Oliver Squirrell
What an interesting year 2020 has been, to say the least! Not only have the past twelve months served up number of unique challenges and an opportunity for fresh endeavour within the art market, but artistically and on a human level we have been fortunate enough to witness a plethora of inspirational new works, momentous social movements and personal journeys that will speak to us eternally. Here are a selection of five highlights from a curious year.
I went home on The Plane Today
Historically, artists have led the way when it comes to making sense of things on a human level in times of turmoil. Statement artist Nicolas Ruston was no different this year, producing a visually arresting body of work during the height of the pandemic infused with both fantastical futurism and personal childhood memory to depict in a raw and collaborative way what it means to be alive and kicking in the life of lockdown.
Nicolas Ruston and Ashley Stokes, "We Really All Were Very Happy For A While”, 2020
“Before the world started to go into self-isolation I invited the author Ashley Stokes to my studio. We’d already collaborated on previous projects and we were currently working on a series of last words spoken by flies. We imagined a world, for example, where the vivid blue light of an electric UV bug zapper was something magical, poetic or even godlike. Ashley added slogans and fragments from his notebooks and stories in his inimitable, spidery handwriting.” - Nicolas Ruston
Nicolas Ruston and Ashley Stokes, "I Went Home On The Plane Today", 2020
View more of Nicolas’ work via our online gallery.
The Beauty Of Our Differences
Imagine if you were to combine art, identity, light, physics, philosophy and mathematics into an artistic practice. What might this look like and what would it say about human individuality?
In a year which will also be remembered for the world defiantly shouting out against racial intolerances on a global scale, French-born photographer Misia-O’ shone inspiring new light on the subject of identity via her stunning series ‘Different Shades of Yellow’ and ‘Different Shades of Black’.
Misia-O’, “Black and Gold”. From the series ‘Different Shades Of Yellow’. Copyright Misia-O', 2020
“What fascinates me is identity and aesthetics. It’s really about celebrating the beauty of our differences. To me it has to remain poetic, aesthetic and philosophical. It’s about tolerance, of course, but instead of approaching my subject via a political angle, which would make it more like a documentary, I approach it from a different angle, from one of anthropology.” - Misia-O’
Misia-O’, “Diver.” From the series ‘Different Shades Of Black’. Copyright Misia-O', 2020
Unearth more perspectives on identity via our Podcast interview with Misia-O’
Two Trails
Where does an artist’s experience end and the work begin?
Back in the summer we premiered our first-ever live virtual event, The Great Disorder, in which Siris Hill and Nicolas Ruston not only shared their new artistic works but also their respective journeys to date, embracing and enduring trauma, sleeping rough, hustling at school, guerrilla marketing, grunge music and baroque painters on the way to making their mark.
Relive more highlights from The Great Disorder
How Mental
2020 was another landmark year for developing the conversations around mental health. At Statement Art we enjoyed enriching conversations with social activist and fashion designer Sarah Hollebon, founder and co-founder of Perspective Project and How Mental, Mark Anscombe, and the founder of Guy Cry Club, Ben Driver, to get to the heart of what we can do as a society to stop the stigma.
Design: Sarah Hollebon. Photographer: Xinjia Zhou. Models: Alvina Malvina, Chloé Doherty, Jean John-Edo. Hair and Make-Up Artist: Beth McKendrick
“As a society we can continue to learn and speak more openly about mental health, moving that one step closer to abolishing the stigmas and the misconceptions. I think Covid-19 will naturally inspire more empathy within so many of us. I truly believe there will be a day when there is nothing but positive conversation on mental health, I wish to push this for all challenging and uncomfortable subjects.” - Sarah Hollebon, Fashion Designer and Social Activist.
Eivind Hansen, portrait commission for Ben Driver/Guy Cry Club
“Creating artwork can begin to release your own understanding of yourself, but so can viewing artwork. In part it goes back to what I have said about that cycle of relatability and expression, but it is also the case in the context of interpretation. Art can be interpreted in many ways and a lot of the time you are reflecting your world view back at the art you are experiencing. You could look at the same piece of art at different times in your life and the meaning may change. It all serves to build a better understanding of who you are.” - Ben Driver, Founder of Guy Cry Club
Browse our articles to discover more discussions on mental health and personal identity.
The Age of Authenticity
Perhaps one of the most unsettling trends of the digital revolution has been society’s foray into fakery - the airbrush tool, the photoshop crop and the instagram filter that encourage us to lust after an unattainable aesthetic.
Like all lifecycles though, what we have witnessed in 2020 are the strongest signs yet of a reversal of this trend, of a wider thirst for life as it is, a shared desire for uncensored expression.
For example, this year has seen the sensational rise of TikTok, a much more raw and ‘of the moment’ social media platform compared to its predecessors. In marketing, the pandemic has forced brands to tell real stories with real people in their real environments, resulting in a deeper sense of shared experience.
And in art? Fundamentally perhaps nothing has changed in the sense that one of the medium’s timeless qualities is that it will always reserve its places in history for those artists who dare to express their truths to the nth degree, often at the expense of being fully understood in the moment.
What we have perhaps seen this year though is a shared sense that authenticity is back at the forefront of our collective consciousness, empowering artists to reach for higher ground.
To illustrate this, earlier in the year it was fascinating to observe that whilst interviewing two different curators as part of our podcast series, both immediately cited authenticity as the key to identify outstanding artists and artworks.
“When you’re standing in front of a piece of artwork which is so authentically them you can feel the artist in it, you can see their personality, you can see their struggle you can see their pain, their emotion. It’s not trying to look sell-able, it’s not trying to be Instagram-able, it is raw. They have found the true alignment with their creative voice. That’s the thing that consistently impresses me.” - Tina Ziegler, Director of Moniker Art Fair.
Siris Hill, “Portrait 3”
View more of Siris’ work via our online gallery.
“It’s about authenticity. I see a lot of derivative art… It’s about originality, by which I’m not saying that you need to have the most original idea in the world, but that it just has to be about the development of your voice in the work.” - Rosalind Davis, Artist and Curator.
Nicolas Ruston, “Blue Brain”
Whilst for many of us 2020 will be remembered as a year of tremendous turmoil and uncertainly, scratch beneath the surface and a new legacy for humanity has also emerged, one built upon shared experience, empathy and real understanding - we’ve all been in the mire together and we’ll all be the stronger for it on the other side.
2021, we’re ready for you.
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Cover Art: Nicolas Ruston, “Corona Hammer”, 2020