Art13 London | Our Favourite Works

Close-up of Waning Crescent Moon (2012) by Yang Yongliang. Photography Lightbox, © Yang Yongliang. © Galerie Paris-Beijing.

Following the overwhelmingly positive feedback from our members, we’ve decided to prolong the Art13 London experience by compiling a list of our favourite works at the fair.

Femmes d’Alger #24 (2013) by Asad Faulwell – Lawrie Shabibi Gallery - Dubai
The Iranian artist Asad Faulwell’s new works feature intricately woven collages celebrating the largely unsung female freedom fighters who struggled to end French occupation in Algeria. He was inspired by the iconic 1966 film The Battle of Algiers, about Algeria’s 1962 war of independence from France and incorporates their photos and portraits in large-scale canvases that are at once beautiful and horrific. With ashen-hued skin, gray tears and stripes radiating from their eyes and mouths, these are not actual human figures but vestiges of what were women.

Boat (2012) Installation by Zhu Jinshi – Pearl Lam Galleries – Hong Kong
This colossal installation is created with Xuan paper, bamboo and cotton thread. The sheer size and visual impact of the Boat is in stark contrast with the delicate nature of the material from which it is made. Zhu Jinshi has described the function of the Boat:  “Whereas time only moves forward, the Boat can be sailed in any direction. The Boat’s cultural resonance is constructed of time itself, continuously ebbing and flowing through our imagination.”

Douche Bag City (2010) by Federico Solmi – Jerome Zodo Gallery – Milan
This drawing animated installation consists of fifteen videos and is conceived as a satire of the capitalist world immersed in the economic crisis. The protagonist, Dick Richman, is an egoistical Wall Street broker who could be understood as an incarnation of Bernard Madoff. Here he is confined to live in Douche Bad City, where he has the mission to survive within the different chapters in a video game like display.

Hide in the City – Chinese Magazine (2011) by Liu Bolin – Galerie Paris-Beijing – Beijing
Liu Bolin uses his body as a medium of expression. He blends in the environment like a chameleon by standing still for hours in a landscape while his assistants are painting on him to create a camouflage. This action of vanishing generates a tragic and difficult dialogue between the subject and his environment. The series « Hide in the City » is a deep and sensitive reflection on the human condition.

Petrol Cargo (2012) by Romuald Hazoumè – October Gallery – London
Romuald Hazoumè’s installation, Petrol Cargo (2012), focuses on the hidden world of black market petrol trafficking between Nigeria and Benin, which he considers causes a modern form of slavery. He broadens the debate, bringing forth the pollution and environmental destruction carried out in Africa, which is carefully hidden from the world’s press.

Never Ending (2005) by Sharon Green – Chan Hampe Galleries – Singapore
In her latest body of work, photographer Sharon Green has created images that suggest disturbing parallels between hunting and courtship, and accompanying these, a vague sense of the historical moment during which hunting was a common pastime of men. In Never Ending, part of The Lonely Empire series, Green introduces a ghostly female figure as a partial reflection, trapped (or hiding?) behind rich curtains.

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