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Royal Drawing School / Joana Galego Show / Spring and All

I managed to have a quick look at Joana's current show @ The Royal Drawing school in between job interviews before it closes this weekend on the 4th of May. I was immediately struck by the artists composition and ability to create intimacy in the work through careful mark-making and colour choices.

The artist's work is engaging because of how she moves away from working with photography to push her visual language. Concerned with memory, imagination and displacement. For this show, one of the main focuses is the notion of 'Love' and it's variety of meanings. It encompasses loneliness and different forms of absence. This is shown in how the figures are depicted and scenes are layered to create hidden meanings and engaging environments. The textures in the work and how environments were build up creating something visceral, and how certain fragments were deep in colour compared to detailed areas, suggested movement in the scenes adding to the poignancy of the work.




''It's easy you see'
Joana Galego, Oil on canvas, 168 x 152 cm, 2019


"Joana Galego studied on the Royal Drawing School’s postgraduate programme, The Drawing Year, and is the 2018-19 recipient of the Sir Denis Mahon Award. The Sir Denis Mahon prize of £10,000 is awarded to an outgoing Drawing Year student each year to enable them to continue their practice. As an artist as part of this award they are also offered a solo exhibition. She previously studied Painting at the University of Lisbon before moving to London for The Drawing Year."

'The Sir Denis Mahon Award gave me the opportunity to dedicate twelve months almost exclusively to the development of my own work – an intensive period of learning and growth in which I was able to spend most of my days in the studio exploring the combination between observational drawing, painting and memory. It is also thanks to the award that I had the chance to stay in London, close to the inspiring group of artists and friends who I met during The Drawing Year and who continue to influence my work. The present show is the conclusion to an important and formative year in my life, marked by multiple changes in my visual language, my approach to materials and conceptual concerns - one that provided me with plenty of questions and clues about what is next to come.' 

Joana Galego, February 2019

Joana's show is on until tomorrow @ Royal Drawing School. Make sure you follow her Instagram here


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