Ahead of Art 16 we caught up with a few of the exhibiting galleries.
Gallery Elena Shchukina Kimber Berry Chasing Dragons with a Plastic Sword
1. Is this your first time at any of the Art 13/14/15/16? And if it is why are you doing it?
This will be Gallery Elena Shchukina’s first time participating in Art16, and we are really looking forward to it. The London art scene is one of the most exciting in the world, and Art16 presents an exciting way of getting in contact with the art-viewing public and our fellow art galleries.
2. Who are you showing and what will they be presenting?
Gallery Elena Shchukina’s stand, F4, will feature a group of six international artists: Kimber Berry (USA), Luke Jerram (UK), Ida Kvetny (Denmark), Seung-Hwan Oh (South Korea), Marie Thibeault (USA), and Xawery Wolski (Poland/Mexico). The artists themselves are a diverse group, and their work is absolutely reflective of that fact.
Kimber Berry and Marie Thibeault are both painters. Seung-Hwan Oh is a photographer who utilises bacteria to distort his images. Luke Jerram is a sculptor and installation artist with a focus on large-scale public works. Ida Kvetny is a painter, sculptor, and mixed-media artist. Xawery Wolski is a Polish-Mexican artist who works primarily in sculpture, but also produces installation works, works on paper, and digital prints.
Gallery Elena Shchukina Seung Hwan Oh Impermanence Untitled David Hyun
The works on our stand represent a number of different artistic traditions and approaches, but they are united by a shared focus on the environment.
Our stand will also feature a lecture by Luke Jerram on his critically-acclaimed Glass Microbiology series at 6pm on 20th May.
3. How long has it taken to plan/put together your stand for Art16?
Our stand went through a few revisions before being finalised. We knew that we wanted to present a set of works with a message that would resonate globally, and it took some thought to arrive at a concept that would reflect that goal.
The final iteration of our stand features work that interrogates the relationship between humanity and the environment. Once we had that concept, everything else fell into place. Start to finish, the whole process of creating a stand – including arranging for lighting and transport – took about a month.
4. What will be success for you?
Our primary objective in participating in Art16 is to increase our visibility within the London art scene, and we will consider Art16 a success if we are able to forge connections with arts people – be they other galleries, or art lovers in the public. We are still a young gallery, but our roster of artists is strong. We have faith that if the public are made aware of our artists, they will recognise the quality inherent in their work.
Gallery Elena Shchukina’s stand, F4, 19th – 22nd May at Olympia www.artfairslondon.com
Gallery Elena Shchukina Kimber Berry_Down the Rabbit Hole
