Multifaceted Artistry of a Young Composer

Dreamnote Unveiled

A Journey into the Multidisciplinary World of Noah Max

Noah Max

   

    I was deeply honored to receive a personal invitation to Noah Max's Dreamnote exhibition at The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. The showcase featured a compelling collection of expressive abstract paintings and emotional portraits.

    Noah, a young yet accomplished creator, primarily delves into the world of music. As a composer and conductor, he founded the Echo Ensemble Orchestra, and his debut album, "Songs of Loneliness," was published by Toccata Music Group in early 2022. His chamber opera, based on John Boyne’s "The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas," explores Max’s Jewish heritage and the history of the Holocaust.

    Diving into Noah’s artistic profile proved captivating, uncovering his mastery in music, paintings, video art, and poetry. Often compared to Baroque composers for his multidisciplinary approach, Noah's talent shines through.

    Displayed at The Tabernacle, "The Candle Lagoon" panels and the portrait of British musician and conductor John Whitfield are truly captivating. The first two pieces were created during a live classical concert, responding directly to the vibrations and emotions evoked by the music. The study for John Whitfield's portrait was crafted in the composer’s final days while battling cancer.

    In a conversation with Noah, I discovered the profound significance of dreams in his life. Much like the visions of the sleeping mind, his paintings invite us into a universe of spontaneous experiences and diverse interpretations. Intuitive paint splashes and broad brush strokes connect Noah with the legacies of Edvard Munch and Keith Haring.

    Meeting this gifted creator, whose artistic exploration spans multiple genres, was truly wonderful. I eagerly anticipate his next projects.

Noah Max - https://www.noahmax.net/

Agnes Prygiel / London / 25.05.2022

Pilar Corrias Gallery

Triumph of Femininity

Criticisms of Paul Gauguin in the art of a diasporic painter

Painting: Gisela McDaniel / Photograph: Agnes Prygiel

    Gisela McDaniel’s exhibition at the Pilar Corrias gallery in Savile Row in Mayfair showcases a collection of paintings of beautiful women in sexually confident poses, with pieces of jewellery attached to their faces. The artist mounts artificial flowers and small objects belonging to her sitters onto the canvas, making her works 3-dimensional, using the space on the sides as the continuation of the painting. 

Painting: Gisela McDaniel / Photograph: Agnes Prygiel

    The series of images and the accompanying sounds focus on diasporic Chamorro women, the indigenous community of the Mariana Islands in the North Pacific, who suffered sexual abuse and Colonial imposition. 

    McDaniel's strong criticisms of Paul Gauguin in her works is of significant importance. The Post-Impressionist was widely known for his fascination with the indigenous women of French Polynesia, who became the subjects of his paintings. 

    It was customary for the European colonists to take young females, often underage, as wives. Gauguin's controversial marriage to a 13-year old Teha'amana, as well as his later relationships, were not legally binding. By today's standards, his approach to young women would qualify as child abuse. As there is no legitimate record of the unions and because of their temporary nature, the artist's debatable private life is often dismissed as fiction, although he wrote about his experiences broadly in the letters to his friends. 

Gisela McDaniel's exhibition at Pilar Corrias gallery / Photograph: Agnes Prygiel

    Gisela puts beautiful women at the centre of her paintings. She also brings the attention back to the marginalised recollections of tribal minorities. Unlike Gauguin, she gives her sitters a voice, asks for their consent and makes their stories personal. She portrays her subjects in spaces that feel safe and inclusive. The pictures are linked to intimate recordings, where private confessions are being shared.

    There is a lot of sexual assertiveness and boldness in the artworks, as if in contrast to the underlying topic of exploitation. McDaniel’s luscious paintings are so suggestive, you almost want to smell the flowers mounted on top of the canvases. Pilar Corrias' gallery forms a stunning background for the elevated art experience. 

Paintings: Gisela McDaniel / Photographs: Agnes Prygiel

    In 1971 an art critic Peter Fuller wrote about Penny Slinger's first solo exhibition in Angela Flowers gallery in London: "It is a documentation of the role of one woman in a world still dominated by concepts of male superiority (...)". The comment is relevant to McDaniel's artistic work today. The difference is that this time it is not just one vulnerable female who speaks up, but many. 

    There is a sense of a collective experience of molestation and violation that women wish to be open about these days, claiming their stories and retelling them through the prism of their sensitivity, owning their physicality and eroticism. The exhibition is a triumph of femininity over the ages of misogyny in art. 

London 22.02.2022

Agnes Prygiel

DeCarava and Wylie

Afternoon at David Zwirner's

Artistically nourishing day out in Mayfair

Photograph by RoyDeCarava

I have a friend who visits London a couple of times a year and is always interested in art shows or doing unique things together. We went to see an exhibition of Roy DeCarava’s photography in David Zwirner Gallery at 24 Grafton Street. It was an artistically nourishing day out in Mayfair. 

Donald Byrd playing for the mountains, photograph by Roy DeCarava

DeCarava used to take pictures of famous jazz musicians he knew privately: Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd, Hazel Scott and others. The exhibition showcases an atmospheric collection of black and white images from the 1950s and 1970s. They feel like a photographic notebook. Amongst perfectly executed shots are under or overexposed sketches, with the main character randomly positioned or out of focus. 

The intimate selection leaves you with a feeling of nostalgia. Fleeting moments recorded by DeCarava follow Monet's artistic legacy. Although he uses photography, some images look like impressionistic paintings, where imperfections and the passing seconds are of significant value.  

Billie Holiday and Hazel Scott in an atmospheric scene, photograph by Roy DeCarava

The exhibition has got some points of reference for every artist, like me, looking for inspiration or connection with the work of those before me, as if they were my mentors. It was interesting to see the private aspects of DeCarava's creativity.

On the top floor of David Zwirner Gallery, there was a small but precious selection of Rose Wylie's work. I wrote about her before, as part of my article about Frieze London 2021.

Rose is now in her late 80s, but she continues working as an artist. Her oeuvre improves with time, like a good wine. She is inspired by cartoons, often combining images with text in her 2D works. Her style is intuitive and sketch-like, capturing a symbolic meaning of the moment, rejecting photorealism altogether.

 

Pineapple by Rose Wylie / Photograph: Agnes Prygiel

Red Girl (no face) and Red Girl (face) by Rose Wylie / Photograph: Agnes Prygiel

David Zwirner presents a smaller version of Rose Wylie's famous pineapple, her primordial paintings,  drawings, and  powerful sculptures. 

Both exhibitions have a common element: they document the artists' creative process, not only the final, best work. It makes me realise the most talented minds in the history have a method of choosing the works they wish to present to a wider public or keep as mental notes for themselves. 

Agnes Prygiel, London 16.02.2022

October in Stone Space Gallery

Geographies of Print 

Victoria Arney - collection of graphics

After sharing my review from Rob Birch's preview in Leytonstone's Stone Space Gallery a couple of months ago, I returned to this elegant window-based exhibition room in East London every month for a new show.

October in Stone Space was dedicated to minimalistic black and white prints by an art collective Geographies of Print, including Victoria Ahrens, Carol Wyss and Vicky Arney. It was a pleasure to meet these highly accomplished ladies during the preview and chat about their process over a glass of wine. Working with traditional printmaking techniques, they create far from conventional pieces. 

The exhibition's centrepiece was a nostalgic graphic by Victoria Arney depicting a sonographic recording of birdsongs. It was produced by a scientific apparatus and turned into an appealing collection of prints pinned up on the wall. 

Arney's work reminded me of Paul Klee, and the phenomenon of synesthesia, where one sense is perceived through another. Artists diagnosed with this neurological condition were known for creating particularly recognisable paintings, illustrating music in a form of abstract configurations.

Carol Wyss' installation and a paper mobile

Carol Wyss built a mini installation in the gallery corner out of black and white paper cylinders resembling a burned down forest or a fallen down city. Her second piece was a mobile paper cutout in a shape of a dandelion. When you looked closer, you could see a collage of human bones. 

Carol's works reflect the topics of death and rebirth in art and one's personal life. The pieces have some hidden energy and radiate strength and perseverance. Presented immaculately, they make a lasting impression. 

Prints by Vicky Ahrens

In her work, Vicky Ahrens drives her energy and inspiration from geology. At the exhibition, the artist presented graphics of caves and shorelines made in the original, distant and hard to get to locations around the world with the use of materials and techniques available on the spot. During a short conversation, she told me about her fascination with volcanos, caves and the meaning of those in our language and symbols. Ahrens also mentioned how the Geographies of Print collective came to life, inspiring me with her enthusiasm and dedication. 

The exhibition "Without Horizons, Without Shore" struck me as personal and very well presented. As always, the preview in Stone Space was delightful and captivating.

Agnes Prygiel, London 22.12.2021

Rob Birch in the Stone Space Gallery

I Know Kung Fu

Rob Birch "I Know Kung Fu"

Over the last couple of years, I passed by The Stone Space Gallery in Leytonstone many times, never having an opportunity to look inside. That changed last Friday when I attended the "I Know Kung Fu" exhibition preview by Rob Birch.

Inspired by the quote from "Matrix", Birch reflects on the issue of manipulated reality and freedom in Western society. His works consists of digitally modified graphics influenced by classical painting. The author uses a traditional portrait format, altering the area around the character's face, forcing us to look beyond the facade. 

With the dictatorship of social media, scrutiny of CCTV monitoring, intrusive advertising and distorted politics, free choice seems to be a slipping away privilege rather than our actual status. Birch encourages us to reject what is superficial and look deeper to find true answers and meaning.

"I Know Kung Fu" exhibition by Rob Birch

It was a splendid evening, with Rob Birch present in the gallery and the Stone Space team providing professional support. Experiencing art in person after so many months of the lockdown was a unique privilege.

www.robbirch.com

stonespace.gallery