Cicek Gallery brings together seven artists of different ethnic minority groups in conversation in their first group exhibition Politics of Charm: Women, BAME, Queers & Progress this week.
The show is co-curated by Berfîn Çiçek with Vittoria Beltrame, an independent curator who graduated from Christie’s and has worked with various galleries and auction houses. This exhibition showcases the artists’ contrasting styles and highlights each other’s beauty, uncovering resonance in the differences presented in the works. The award-winning artists include Abi Joy Samuel; Alla Samarina; Annam Butt; Berfîn Çiçek; Kay Gasei; Fia Yang and Naila Hazell.
Capturing both the dark and sublime, Abi Joy Samuel is a non-binary British Jewish artist whose figurative works come from a process of letting go and experiencing the moment. With a focus on the impact societal expectations have on the human condition, their work mainly uses the human form as a means of exploring these complexities with oils, charcoal, and pastel
Alla Samarina is a British figurative artist who, influenced by her interest and background in music, paints figures from real-life which express her ‘interpretation of the essence of the subject’. Having worked as a fashion model for Philip Treacy, Alexandra McQueen and Vogue, her pieces showcase varying degrees of abstraction with a distinct style.
Annam Butt’s Classical Orientalism derives from influences of her studies in the methods of the Old Masters. Mixed with her Pakistani background, her work represents her culture with an art style which often focuses on Western standards of beauty. Collecting macabre objects of curiosity and antiquity, she uses these objects to build narrative in her work.
Berfîn Çiçek takes inspiration from the everyday life experiences that her vibrant birth-city of London offers, blending with her Kurdish background and architectural studies. Founder of Cicek Gallery and inspired by creatives such as Picasso and Le Corbusier, Çiçek’s bold and contemporary cubist style explores the complex patterns in life.
Inspired by nature, darkness and the unknown, Fía Young’s abstract paintings are an impactful representation of her Chinese roots. Her use of ink, influenced by shan shui, mixed with the traits of her current Icelandic residence, combine to form paintings that represent her resilience built from enduring life experiences. Young connects the relationships between seemingly juxtaposed objects or concepts — order and disorder, movement and stillness, complexity and simplicity, within her work.
British-Zambian artist, Kay Gasei’s works explore the attentive use of symbolism and mythology. Using recurring motifs and abstract spaces, Gasei gifts audiences with a sense of intimate mystery and discovery, embedding stories in the detailed pieces. Influenced by artists such as Basquiat and Miró, his works aim to present hidden narratives for viewers to decipher.
The figurative paintings of British-Azeri artist Naila Hazell present a vibrant take on what can pass by as snapshots of daily moments. Her realistic, yet painterly works are brought to life from photographs of moments that capture Hazell’s attention; ‘Naila’s Moments’. Passionate in this exploration of this stillness to be found, which can often be ignored and lost in the maelstrom of life, her paintings transform those unconscious moments to create conscious reminiscences that
can be activated by every viewer.
Cicek Gallery’s Berfîn Çiçek and curator Vittoria Beltrame comment,
These artists are from diverse ethnic backgrounds, and find commonalities, brought together by the gallery’s aim to understand them individually and collectively. A reflection of London under one roof, the identity of each artist pours onto the canvases from a unique place of culture, upbringing and experience in progress. Driving more awareness, which in turn increases the richness in our world, they explore abstract, figurative, cubist and classical ideology. The artists will take the audience on a vibrant
cosmopolitan journey from mythical references to orientalism.
Cicek Gallery presents Politics of Charm: Women, BAME, Queers & Progress, Cicek Gallery, 13 Soho Square, London W1D 3QF, Thursday 20th October 2022 – Saturday 29th October 2022 @cicekartgallery
