Hope is the thing with feathers by Vanessa Mitter

About this artwork

The title of this painting is from an Emily Dickinson poem, the great American poet. How do you make an image out of an abstract thought or out of poetry? I wanted to make an image that evokes hope in a universal sense, coming out of darkness. This painting was made on the Mark Rothko Art Residency at the Mark Rothko Art Centre in his home town of Daugavpils, Latvia. It was a fully-funded residency, selected by the panel of the Mark Rothko Memorial Trust (Rebecca Salter, current President of the Royal Academy of Art, London, Timothy Marlow, Managing Director of the Design Museum, curator, writer and presenter, Laura Culpan, Director of Artwise Curators and Paul Huxley, artist and Royal Academician). This was in August 2022 and completed in my studio in East London in 2023. This painting was recently exhibited in the institutional exhibition, ‘What This Awl Means’ (the LaLa International Art Collective and Guests) at the Künstlerhaus, Bregenz, Austria from October 6th-November 19th, 2023.

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@vanessa_mitter on December 08 2023, 6:42pm UTC

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Artwork History

Vanessa Mitter

Dec 01, 2023

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About the artist

Vanessa Mitter

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Vanessa Mitter is a painter and a performance artist, who lives and works in London. She graduated with a BA Honours Degree in Fine Art: Painting from Central Saint Martins, London, having completed her Foundation studies in Art and Design at Kingston University, London. She went on to complete a Postgraduate Diploma and a Masters Degree in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art, London. In her paintings and performances, Vanessa Mitter is interested in interrogating the history, particularly, of Expressionist painting and of the gesture. The making is very physical. The canvas is moved around, laid on the floor, then the wall, often remade or scored over, obliterated and then painted over again. Often, paintings are buried underneath other paintings. There is a narrative being referenced, but it is often hidden and autobiographical. Mitter uses layers of paint and collage, overlaid then with pen and oil stick. The making is instinctive and accident driven, often teetering on the edge. This tightrope is important. The painting has its own life, leads the way. Mitter views this as a process of alchemy; a transformative process. Alice Butler (Frieze Writer’s Prize Winner, 2012) writes that: ‘In Vanessa Mitter’s paintings, the personal is treated as a pliant material, a source of affect and investigation, but also of fiction and performance. Collage, paint and pigment find a way on to the canvas in ephemeral expressive gestures. There is an abject narrative at play – of childbirth, loss, fertility – but it is a narrative that wanders in and around the artifice of the material’ and ‘The textural ways in which Mitter appropriates her own work, working and re-working the surface, with the addition of a swathe of fabric, a ripped sheet of paper, or an expressive gesture of paint, becomes a signifier of the passing of time’. Website: www.vanessamitter.com Instagram: @vanessamitter

Curriculum Vitae

Born in 1982 in London. Currently residing in London.

Education

2010 · Chelsea College of Art

Masters (MA): Fine Art

2009 · Chelsea College of Art

Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Art

Solo Exhibitions

Oct 10, 2019 - Dec 8, 2019

The Painting Game at K Projects, Berlin

Sep 10, 2007 - Nov 20, 2007

Life Was Never Meant To Be This Way, Museu de Soller, Mallorca, Spain

Jun 3, 2016 - Jun 25, 2016

Unquiet Brides at Unit G Gallery, London

Jun 9, 2017 - Jun 30, 2017

I Am A Beautiful Monster at Arthouse1 Gallery, London (duo exhibition)

Group Exhibitions

Oct 10, 2019 - Dec 8, 2019

The Painting Game at K Projects, Berlin

Sep 10, 2007 - Nov 20, 2007

Life Was Never Meant To Be This Way, Museu de Soller, Mallorca, Spain

Jun 3, 2016 - Jun 25, 2016

Unquiet Brides at Unit G Gallery, London

Jun 9, 2017 - Jun 30, 2017

I Am A Beautiful Monster at Arthouse1 Gallery, London (duo exhibition)

Bibliography

May 18, 2017

The 2017 Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize catalogue, Piano Nobile Gallery

Jan 12, 2018

Frivolous Convulsions Arts Council funded catalogue, Turf Projects in major library collections; including Chelsea College UAL and The British Library etc

Oct 7, 2023

Exhibition catalogue for ‘What This Awl Means: The LaLa International Art Collective and Guests’ at the Künstlerhaus, Bregenz, Austria

Oct 3, 2021

Contemporary Narratives Part Two: London Paint Club exhibition catalogue

Mar 1, 2020

Art Maze Magazine feature

Apr 30, 2018

The Lore of the Land exhibition catalogue

Feb 25, 2021

Art on a Postcard for International Women’s Day, postcard box set/catalogue

Sep 10, 2007

Life Was Never Meant To Be This Way, solo exhibition catalogue

May 3, 2019

Mother Art Prize 2018 exhibition catalogue

Mar 4, 2018

You Are Here exhibition catalogue

Selected Press

Dec 3, 2019

Review of ‘Objects of Desire’ exhibition: https://tomoutblog.wordpress.com/2019/11/28/agitation-objects-of-desire-asc-studios/

Apr 1, 2011

De Kooning, De Kooning, De Kooning, review in Frieze Magazine of exhibition at David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen: https://www.frieze.com/article/de-kooning-de-kooning-de-kooning

Dec 28, 2011

Nicola Ruben Montini in conversation with Vanessa Mitter for Positive Magazine: https://www.positive-magazine.com/nicola-ruben-montini-in-conversation-with-vanessa-mitter/

Nov 9, 2021

5 Reasons, Art on a Postcard: https://fadmagazine.com/2021/11/09/5-reasons-why-art-on-a-postcard-is-the-charity-auction-not-to-miss/

Nov 9, 2019

Review of ‘Objects of Desire’ exhibition by art critic, Paul Carey-Kent, ‘Paul’s Art World’

Feb 12, 2018

Death Animated, review of ‘Frivolous Convulsions’ exhibition at Turf Projects: https://tomoutblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/19/death-animated-frivolous-convulsions-turf-projects/

Feb 8, 2022

The Smoke, review of exhibition by Tom Carrao at: https://tomoutblog.wordpress.com

Nov 9, 2021

https://hyperallergic.com/690853/art-on-a-postcard-winter-auction-2021/

Feb 15, 2018

Croydonist: Review of ‘Frivolous Convulsions’ exhibition at Turf Projects

Honors and Awards

Jul 31, 2022

The Mark Rothko Memorial Trust. I was awarded a fully funded art residency to develop my work for a month from 31/7/22-30/8/22 at the Mark Rothko Art Centre, Latvia.

Jan 18, 2011

The Red Mansion Foundation Art Prize shortlist

Mar 10, 2022

Waverton Art Prize in association with Boisdale - longlisted by Paint Talk curator and acclaimed artist, Stuart Pearson Wright

Sep 10, 2010

GAM - Gilbert de Botton Art Prize shortlist

Aug 30, 2022

Continued…The Mark Rothko Memorial Trust Artist-in-Residence biennial award was selected by: Rebecca Salter RA (President of the Royal Academy of Arts, London), Tim Marlow (CEO of the Design Museum)

Mar 20, 2023

Longlisted for Jackson’s Painting Prize, 2023

Dec 1, 2023

Barbican Arts Group Trust Artworks Open shortlist and exhibition

Jun 29, 2015

Hackney Wicked Art Prize - joint winner during the Arts Council funded Hackney Wicked Open Studios, East London

Mar 14, 2013

100 Painters of Tomorrow, Beers Gallery, London longlist

May 19, 2017

The Ruth Borchard Self-Portrait Prize shortlist and exhibition, Kings Place, London with Piano Nobile Gallery

May 4, 2019

Mother Art Prize shortlist, exhibition and catalogue, selected by Procreate Project, Engage Artist Platform and Mother Studios co-founders, Dyana Gravina and Paola Lucente.

May 4, 2019

Mother Art Prize…continued.. selected and curated by: Elizabeth Nielson (Director, Zabludowicz Collection), Laura Smith (curator, Whitechapel Art Gallery) and Marcelle Joseph (curator and collector).

Sep 1, 2022

(Selection panel continued), Paul Huxley RA and Laura Culpan (Director of Artwise Curators)

Mar 30, 2022

Jackson’s Painting Prize - shortlist (two paintings selected by the panel)

Grants

Jul 28, 2022

The Mark Rothko Memorial Trust Artist-in-Residence Award

Oct 7, 2023

Funding from the Austrian government via the Künstlerhaus, Bregenz for the exhibition, catalogue, loaning of artworks from the Landesmuseum, Bregenz, tour and talk: ‘Whar This Awl Means’.

Jan 12, 2018

Turf Projects Arts Council funding for exhibition and catalogue, ‘Frivolous Convulsions’

Jul 23, 2020

Freelands Foundation grant

Achievements

3+ Solo Shows

This artist has had 3 or more solo exhibitions. A solo show is a milestone moment in an artist's career, and a signal that their market is established.

Global Exposure

This artist has had shows in 3+ countries. A global presence is a significant marker of success for artists— demonstrating their wide reach and global market appeal.