Manon Steyaert

Statement

Manon Steyaert (b.1996) is a French-British artist based in London. Steyaert’s practice is situated between the two worlds of painting and sculpture, able to create both wall-based works and free- standing abstract sculptures. With a strong background in fashion as well as art, the artist pays homage to both traditional and non-traditional mediums throughout her practice. Focusing mainly on the aesthetic quality of silicone, Steyaert also utilises canvas, scrim, wood and metal, consequently drawing on the visual language of both architecture and painting.

Allowing herself to be led by the intrinsic qualities of her materials, Steyaert’s creative process is intuitive and process-driven. Silicone as a medium is one that requires time, attention, and immense control. Hand-pouring and colouring each sheet of silicone, the curing process alone can take days, and the finished form is as delicate as it is physical. In many of Steyaert’s works, the silicone is treated like fabric: draped and folded across its structural support, creating beautiful compositions that challenge our perception of what it is that makes a painting or a sculpture. As a result, movement, abstraction and action are core to Steyaert’s work. Her abstracted forms sit in limbo between two accepted modes of art, generating a unique space for curiosity and development.

Colour and form work together closely within Steyaert’s work, guiding the viewer’s eye along the undulations of her chosen material. Making use of a wide variety of colours, often melding them together to create near-psychedelic patterns across the surface of the silicone, Steyaert’s work is simultaneously simple and meditative. In recent works, Steyaert has drawn inspiration from old master paintings, focalising on translating translucent colours from fabrics into her silicone, exploring gestural abstraction to connect colours, closely mimicking a watercolour painting. These new washes of colour allows the artist hand to be evermore present in the work, connecting deeper into painting.

The importance of materiality of Steyaert’s practice is undeniable. Alternative perspectives, interpretations and viewpoints are continually encouraged within the artists’ ever-evolving practice. Unable to be defined within ‘traditional’ boundaries of painting or sculpture, her work embodies the transgressive nature of conceptual and contemporary artistic practice.

GlogauAIR Project

During my time at Glogauair Art Residency I would like to explore new materials as I currently work with silicone, a material with many possible avenues and I feel almost stuck with its possibilities.

I would like to take my time at Glogauair to bring back the canvas into my work, not necessarily in a painters’ two dimensional way but using it as a medium to explore sculpture, along with other materials. Using layers of colours to guide the viewer through the work, exploring the relationship between surface and structure and exposing the fragility of this relationship. I have been exploring ideas of deconstruction of painting for a while, creating works whom fall in limbo between painting and sculpture. I would like to continue exploring this by using elements of drapery to realise my ideas making works that fall in both and neither of these categories. The “Language of Drapery” is a concept I have been wanting to explore and never found the time to do so in depth, so Glogauair is the perfect time for me to research into this, looking at draperies in paintings to where it is present in sculpture. Diving deeper into the ideas of revealing and hiding a structure, coming back to deconstruction of painting, stripping it back to its “bones” and figuring how to bring it back together.

I would also like to dive deeper into my relationship with my artwork, looking to the “why” of my attractions and not being deterred by the process of experimenting and the possibilities of failing. In my experimentation process I would like to also further explore notions of beauty in connection to use of materials, colour, finish and my relationship with it.

CV Summary

2024

• “In Colour” – Group show, Haricot Gallery (London, UK), Mar 8th – Apr 6th
• Art on a Postcard x International Women’s’ month, Bomb Factory (London, UK)
• “Women’s’ Work” – Group show, Salon Design, Lehman Art Centre, March 1st – April 5th
• “The Way of All Flesh” – Group show, Delphian Gallery x Saatchi Gallery, London, UK, Jan 13th – Mar 3rd
• Art Herning Art Fair, group show, Annika Nuttall Gallery, Jan 26th – 28th

2023

• Solo show, WAY Gallery, Stockhom, Sweden, Oct
• Window Licker Gallery, Brussels, Sept
• Enter Art Fair, Annika Nuttall Gallery, Copenhagen, Aug
• “Cache-Cache”, Solo show, Blue Shop Gallery, London, UK, 1st-18th June
• “Between Figuration: Then and Now”, Group Show, Gillian Jason Gallery, May 4th – Jun 4th
• “Passing Colour” Solo show, Annika Nuttall Gallery, Denmark, Feb 24th – Apr 1st

2022

• Group Show, Westbund Art Fair, Cub_ism artspace, Shanghai, China, 10th-13th Nov
• Group show, Entre Art Fair, Annika Nuttall Gallery, Copenhagen, 25th – 28th Aug
• “Works on Paper”, group show, Blue Shop cottage, online, April
• “Material World”, group show, Liliya Gallery, London, 24th March- 19th April
• “Between Emotion and Sanity”, group show, Shanghai, China, March 12th– July 14th

2021

• “Point de Vue”, Solo Show, Blender Gallery, Athens, November 4th – Dec 4th
• “Soft spot” – Group show, Eve Leibe Gallery, 24th – 31st May
• “Hétérotopie” – Group Show, Bubble n’ Squeak, Brussels, March – April
• “Becoming Habits: Chapter 3” – with Studi0, St Moritz, March – April
• “Noticing Colour” solo show with Annika Nuttall Gallery, Denmark, April – June

2020

• “Curated for Christmas” – Bowes Parris Gallery + All Mouth Gallery, Dec, London
• “Interrupted Contemplation” solo show, virtual exhibition, Eve Leibe Gallery, Nov – Dec
• “After Hours” (group show) – Bowes Parris Gallery Nov-Dec, London
• “Hexalogy” (group show) – PADA residency, 27th August – 29th
• “Anti-Freeze” (group show) – Virtual exhibition, curated by Cassandra Bowes, 25th May – 8th June

2019

• “Ma Toile” (SOLO SHOW) – A Room Upstairs Gallery, 20th Nov-20th Dec (UK, Ldn)
• “Misbehaving Surfaces” (SOLO SHOW) – The Who Gallery, J.lindeberg showroom, 25th Sept-30th Oct (UK, Ldn)
• “off grid” (group show) – Cookhouse Gallery, Mar 21st (UK,Ldn)
• “Wicked Game” (group show) – Cookhouse Gallery, Jan 24th – 25th (UK)

2018

• “E Pluribus Unum”(group show) – Cookhouse Gallery, Dec 13th
• “Obsessions”(group show) – Cookhouse Gallery, Nov 9th
• Degree Show – Central Saint Martins, May 23rd – 27th

Awards/ Prizes / Residencies

• Clifford Chance Sculpture Award 2019 – Shortlisted
• Back Room Open Call 2020 – Shortlisted, Dec exhibition
• PADA artist residency, Portugal 03/08/2020 – 30/08/2020

Education

• 2014 – 2015 – Foundation – Central Saint Martins
• 2015 – 2018 – BA (Fine Art) – Central Saint Martins
• 2018 – 2019 – MA (Fine Art) – Chelsea College of Arts

Gallery