Portraits | 5th – 16th January 2022

 

Portrait

5th – 16th January

Private view: 5th January, 6:00 – 8:30pm

 

Welcome to our first Portraits exhibition of 2022! Our focus is to give emerging artists a platform to share their work with our viewers in person as well as online. This exhibition will host artists from the UK and abroad. Our Portrait exhibitions are about capturing the essense of humanity through diverse mediums like photography and painting for example, in varying styles. Visit the gallery and our website to see how our artists have represented the personalities and stories of their subjects.

 

Open:
10am – 6pm Monday to Friday
12 – 6pm Sunday

 

ARTISTS:

ALY LLOYD @byalylloyd

Aly Lloyd is British, self-taught, figurative and portrait artist based in Surrey. Her work focuses on expressive and often achromatic depictions a subject, working primarily with watercolour, but adding layers of mixed mediums and styles that create contrasting elements to a piece. Using light and shadow to depict shape are fundamental aspects of her technique.

Aly is regularly commissioned for her unique watercolour-based portraits and has been featured in iconic publications such as World of Interiors and Tatler. Her collection here, titled “Women by Women” draws attention to expressive portrayals of female subjects. Historically viewed through the male gaze, and often as objects of desire, her work explores representations of women from the female perspective.

YUSUFF AINA ABOGUNDE @yusuffaina

Yusuff Aina Abogunde is a Nigerian multidisciplinary artist born on March 18, 1997 in Lagos, Nigeria. Art, being a mirror of life as through the eyes of Yusuff reflected the stories and experiences inspired by people surrounding him. This desire to express and create birthed a self-taught style used to capture the state of mind and state of being of his works.

As an artist and a person, one of the things I learned and have been told is you have to live a tough life to survive, a mindset I visually represent by replacing man’s skin with a soil that has overtime become like a rock after facing harsh conditions, but despite all, still having hope of being better humans, adapting to our initial cause and purpose of embracing as one “Eniyan”. This is a life I grow in all my works and a reflection of my obsessions about humanity. Eniyan in Yoruba means “humanity Person “. The “Eniyan face”, in a beautiful relationship with “Ainaism” is a voice or medium, which in the case of my art I use as a tool to represent oneness in the identity and unity of man as a being. Eniyan is also a form used to interpret issues concerning human identity and human struggles (physical, mental, psychological, societal, political and individual struggles). I am interested in creating an experience for people beyond what has been seen before, not just as a display but as an interaction also serving as a face for the faceless, representing those who are ignored in the society to stand for what they belong, challenge their beliefs, reflect on the state of humanity and the meaning of Unity.

TOMAS JETELA @tomasjetela

 Tomáš Jetela (1986) is exceptional on the Czech art scene in his generations because he is a consistent figuralist. The author, who’s style can be described as expressive, raw and authentic, expresses another dimension of emotions and context through his work. Among the terms that play a crucial role in this measurement is the word expression. On the one hand, it is linked to constant effort to touch the inner side in a concentrated manner or, on the contrary, to empty his face, where, together with the accent on hand gestures, he focuses his painterly attention mainly. On the other hand, it includes a distinctive expression that forms the basis of his visual message. In fact, during the production of specific formal expressions based on a free combination of painting, drawing and collage.

 

JESSICA OLIVERAS @jessicaoliverasart

Jessica is an oil painter born in Spain in 1991. Her works strike a balance between the hyperrealism and abstract elements and they can be found worldwide in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy and Czech Republic.

“My paintings are an introspective work of the probabilities of our existence. I am fascinated by life’s ephemeral quality that makes each person’s existence an unlikely miracle. I want to evoke the feeling of eternity to our fragile but fierce threads of existence. I reflect my own feelings into the person depicted, and by capturing their purest essence I prove that today, them and I, we do exist.”

 

SAMANTHA MESSIAS @_messias_art

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” –Pablo Picasso 

My life and the process of creating my drawings have developed through turning something dark into something light. Much of my skill and creativity was developed by using it as an outlet to release, heal and express my emotions from a traumatic childhood. I was adopted at 5 years old and, for a while; the only way I could communicate what happened was to draw it. I didn’t know that what I was doing at such a young age was indeed a form of therapy, and one I would continue throughout my life.

I came across hyperrealism in 2013 and fell in love with the intense detail, skill, patience, and discipline that encapsulated this genre and how photo-realistic the art appeared. I started to draw portraits of world leaders and resilient celebrities who overcame great difficulties in life similar to my own and who inspired millions to keep moving forward, giving hope and permission to live the life of your dreams despite their past traumas, these including Oprah Winfrey, Marilyn Monroe, Maya Angelou, Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela and so many more. Inspiring others with my artwork, creating art for my clients that moves them and their loved ones to tears and giving hope through my story has been and continues to be a powerful experience; to leave others with a touch of inspiration is a wonderful feeling.

 

LISA ZAMAN @lisazamanart

Lisa is a self-taught British artist born in 1975.

Portraiture was a hobby until 2019 when I decided to focus on my skills. I want to show my growth as an artist, utilising my knowledge and love of portraiture and pushing my abilities/skills to create more daring work. To allow others to be inspired and inquisitive as the nature of human emotions. Obscured faces create an air of mystery and wonder as to whom the individual is. The Placement of the hands creates a talking point of what emotion is concealed underneath them.

 

NICOLAS DUROCHER-YVON @durocher.art

Nicolas Durocher-Yvon is a 25-year-old artist from Johannesburg, South Africa. His works primarily focus on realistic attributes, by the use of charcoal and pastel. The dark use of contrasts creates a bold statement in the works, as evident in the “Leo” piece. The artwork “Children of Tomorrow” is the first in a series of drawings, which aims to express how the youth of today will look like in the future. The piece of Albert Einstein is meant to convey his chaotic and intellectual energy by silk-screening notes and calculations he has written regarding the theory of relativity with references to the atomic bomb.

ELLA TROTT @ang3lsl1ce

Originally from Bristol, I am a second year student studying at Central Saint Martins and I work primarily using oil paint and printmaking techniques. I look closely at the relationship between painting and photography and how I can use this to find ever-changing ways of documenting experience. My work aims to capture my own interpretation of a moment; translating to an audience those fond personal memories which may otherwise be overlooked.

The inspiration from my work is centered on the idea that we are living in a moment our younger selves longed to reach. When living in a big city, it’s easy to slip in to a mechanical, repetitive lifestyle and not take a second to appreciate our surroundings and be grateful for how far we have come. ‘Rewriting my narrative’ and ‘Morning Bru’ were the result of a 6am venture to the fly emirates where we stuck out like sore thumbs, singing in sequins and miniskirts alongside the zombie-like commuters. Taking a morning to be overly romantic and idealistic serves as a reminder that we are able to grasp a hold of our own lives and decide how we choose to live. Through working alongside my friends and loved ones, I am able to create unique memories and experiences which celebrate the moments which most glaze over. Creating these experiences and documenting them through a lens of positivity and optimism is a fun reminder that life is far more fulfilling when you learn to live in the now. ‘Unflinching’ and ‘Unavoidable’ are part of the wider body of work which is a portrait series aiming to capture my experience of London; producing a visual record which stands still becomes a meditative process to unpick the anxieties of living in a fast paced city.

M_Lies_ @m_lies_

Morgan Liesenhoff was born in Munich in 1991 and grew up in Mallorca. She then studied journalism in Brussels and in London, at Goldsmiths University. After some years working as a journalist and a videographer, Morgan came back to her first love: painting. Still, she carried on the sense of reflection and observation from her years as a journalist and transferred them to her paintings, with particular emphasis on the role of women in our society.

 

 

The Brick Lane Gallery – The Annexe

93 – 95 Sclater Street | London | E1 6HR​

Phone: +44 (0) 207 729 9721

Instagram: @bricklanegallery