comic tendencies
Detail of ‘Fugletitter’, Oda Iselin Sønderland, 2019
SAMANTHA ROSENWALD, ODA ISELIN SØNDERLAND
MAURIZIO BONGIOVANNI
Eve Leibe Gallery is pleased to present ‘Comic Tendencies’, a group featuring for the first time in London, Samantha Rosenwald, Oda Iselin Sønderland and Maurizio Bongiovanni. The works in the exhibition challenge the social expectations of masculine and feminine behaviours, defying rigid gender categories in an amusing light.
Appearing for centuries in magazines, newspapers and underground publications, comics illustrate cartoons, but also politics, popular culture, propaganda and subversion. While the bright colours, curved figures and storyboard format speaks to children, throughout history they have had the power to challenge the status quo, with its cartoon-like format providing the opportunity to critique and subvert reality.
Born and raised in the comically perfect Los Angeles, Samantha Rosenwald’s work uses humour to comment on female beauty expectations. Threading together contemporary culture, visual pun and the dogmas of art history, while utilising the childlike medium of colouring pencils, she creates personal and absurd images of what it feels like to be alive. Typically constructed in a sequence of panels, each image in a comic strip continues a story that doesn’t necessarily have an ending, transporting the reader into another world. Oda Iselin Sønderland found herself in the realm of Japanese anime and manga as a teenager and never quite left. Fascinated by the archetype sweet, innocent female character, her imaginative universe is full of recurring mirrors and reflections, giving an insight into the character’s psyche and a feeling of being watched. Changing with the times, comics – and comic-like art – date as far back as the Lascaux cave paintings in France, changing and adapting to societies, cultures and desires. Through his painting, Maurizio Bongiovanni explores eroticism in the consumer society. Playing with the relationship between tragedy and sexuality, his practice speaks about the limits of chaos and existence.
Exhibition co-curated by Lizzy Vartanian Collier, founder of Gallery Girl
Text by Lizzy Vartanian Collier
09. OCTOBER - 19. OCTOBER 2019
OPENING: 09. OCTOBER 2019, 5 - 8 PM
OPENING HOURS: MONDAY- SUNDAY 10 AM - 6 PM
30 Elizabeth Street, Belgravia, London SW1W 9RB
Samantha Rosenwald (b. 1994, Los Angeles) received her BA in Art History from Vassar College in 2016 and her MFA in Fine Art from California College of the Arts in 2018. Rosenwald has shown with galleries such as Zevitas Marcus, CULT Exhibitions, Good Mother Gallery, and Mostyn, and has been featured in publications such as New American Paintings, Art Maze Magazine, and Voyage LA. Rosenwald is based in LA and works primarily in painting, coloured pencil, and ceramic. By threading together contemporary culture, visual pun, and the dogmas of art history, she creates absurd, personal, and darkly funny portraits which illustrate what it feels like to be alive.
Oda Iselin Sønderland (b. 1996, Oslo) received her BA at Oslo National Academy of the Arts. Iselin Sønderland in her recent exhibition «Magical Girl» at the Golsa gallery, the artist reflected around the anime girl archetype, the striving towards an endless goal and the struggle of being in control. The watercolour paintings show different characters in an imaginative universe.
Maurizio Bongiovanni (b. 1979, Tettnang) lives and works between Milan and London. Bongiovanni has shown his paintings with galleries such as Studio d’arte Cannaviello (Milan); Galleria Richter (Rome); Federico Lugar Gallery Window Project (Milan); The Century Club (London) and the Guildhall Art Gallery (London). He participated in several international residencies: Vermont Studio Center in America, La Napoule Art Foundation in France and the Fondazione Lac o Le Mon in Italy. Bongiovanni’s work have been reported in publications such as Nature Morte by Thames & Hudson, L’UomoVogue, Artribune and Queen&Country Magazine.
