Artist: Joanne Hummel Newel
Title:Too Soon
Year: 2018
Dimension: 76 x 56 cm
Technique: Waterbased on St Cuthbert’s Mill watercolor paper
Price: TBC
About the Artist
JOANNE HUMMEL NEWELL ( b.1982 UK) trained at the Royal College of Art London and was hailed as ‘the next generation to turn its back on Emin and Hirst’s conceptual works’ by the Observer. Joanne has exhibited internationally including 53rd Venice Biennale, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition and Jerwood Drawing Prize, as well as being shortlisted for the Beers London Contemporary Visions exhibition. Commendations include Head of collections at Soho House, Kate Bryan, as one of the ‘Must see artists at the Other Art Fair’ and the Times Newspaper ‘Picking up a Picasso is one click away’. Joanne has a growing international collector base and is included in public and private collections in UK, US, Hong Kong, Europe and Australia.
Solo exhibitions include Saatchi Art Lounge, Frieze Week London 2017, The Farmer’s Clock, Hop Kilns Gallery, Isle of Wight 2015, Panic of the Human Fancy, Aspex Guildhall Gallery, Portsmouth 2014 Artist in Focus, Newashgate Gallery, Farnham 2013, Pocket Museum, The Lightbox, Woking 2012.
Group exhibitions and Art Fairs include: Turns on the Tarmac, Sid Motion Gallery London 2017, IM IN THE GARDEN Foal Arts Depozitory 2017, Affordable Art Fair Battersea 2017, The Other Art Fair London and Bristol 2016 – 2018, Porcelain and Paper CAA Gallery London Crafts Week 2016, MK Arts Shoosmiths Art Prize shortlist exhibition 2015, Out of the box, No format Gallery, London 2015, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Burlington Gardens, London 2014, XMAS BOGOF, WW Gallery, Hatton Gardens, London 2013, Spare Parts, The Rag Factory, London 2012, Jerwood Drawing Prize shortlist Exhibition, Jerwood space, London and touring 2012, Say What You See, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth 2012, Afternoon Tea, WW Gallery, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice 2011, Drawing the Line, Aspace Bargate Gallery, Southampton 2010, Anonymous Drawings, Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Berlin 2010, Fukt Magazine Presents, Nomas Foundation, Rome 2010, No Man is an Island,The Empire, London 2007.
Text taken from the artist’s website.
What does this work say?
There is a long tradition that started with geometric abstractionism in the first half of the XX Century of works that have been created by artists who are constantly exploring the expressive capabilities of shape and color on a bi dimensional surface for expressing: the intricacies of space and how we perceive it; the power of color in its deep rooted association with our emotions and rational minds thanks to mechanisms like contrast, foreground, back ground, complementary colors, etc and the use of organic and geometric shapes for generating a parallel reality which emerges from elements that constitute or day to day reality.
The work by Joanne Hummel fits within that tradition in the way I see it.
When I saw this work I liked its compositional playfulness, the use of color and the creation of depth thanks to the use of black in the background.
It makes me think of an object that is being scrutinized against the blackness of a sleepy sky.
Even though when I see three different flat surfaces I cannot stop perceiving a tridimensional reality on it.
It is that sort of ambiguity and the intentional contrast of elements: defined lines vs blurred lines; solid color vs patchy color that creates a warmth feeling when contemplating it despise the presence of black.
The key is in the use of proportions and scale of the figure in their relation with the space defined by the paper on which they live.
It is not easy to guess how the work of Joanne will develop, as a young artist she has the advantage of enjoying the experimentation, the exploration and the creation of a solid “world” that will define the way her work is shaped and perceived.
In what Room to place it?
This is a piece that can be placed in any room. It is a work easy to live with, to enjoy at any moment and if with time and the right disposition to allow yourself to be lost in thoughts.
Displaying it
Being a work on paper it demands to be framed, however I would choose the method that allows it to float so you can appreciate the edges of the paper as they take an important role in the perception of the piece.
