ABUNDANCE

ART BASEL PARIS 2023

A manifestation for circular energy

On the occasion of the second edition of Paris+ par Art Basel, Maison Suri celebrates its new salon space on the 8th arrondissement with the exhibition “Abundance - a manifestation for circular energy”, a group show of female artists Aigana Gali, Kwon Jukhee, Lee Eu, and Yeodong Yun.

Historically, the concept of "Abundance" has woven a complex and enduring tapestry within artistic practice. Often symbolizing femininity, fertility, and fruition, it has predominantly been portrayed through female subjects by male artists. Nevertheless, the tide of the past century has witnessed a powerful counterwave led by influential female artists like Giorgia O’Keeffe and Judy Chicago, who have boldly reclaimed and redefined the motif of abundance. They have positioned female sexuality as an unyielding source of generative power, creativity, spirituality, and self-expression.

Building upon this empowering narrative in recent art history, the exhibition seeks to delve into the multifaceted notion of "Abundance" through the contemporary works of contemporary female artists, each embarking on her unique exploration of this symbolic landscape, at times tapping into the wellsprings of feminine intuition, spiritual fecundity, and alternative forms of wisdom. Within the hallowed walls of Maison Suri's Parisian salon, you will find a diverse array of interpretations: from the varied declinations of abstraction in the painterly works to the voluptuous, three-dimensional forms that exude soft power.

On bliss and the centrifugal force of the feminine by Nico Kos Earle

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”
― Anais Nin

If we consider the act of creation, in all its many forms and rituals, we must acknowledge the dance that anticipates it and the roles we choose to play. Like dust particles free floating in a shaft of light, what binds us to the act of making, and propels the action forward, are the forces of attraction. Often seen through the binary lens of masculine/ feminine, each dancer must assume a position, in which one cannot exist without the other. Harmony – between male and female, artist and collector, creative and analyst - creates the conditions for something new to emerge. And yet, when we insist on the polarity between masculine and feminine energies – be it in a relationship or in the context of making art – we limit our capacity to experience the full range of being human. Too often, we assume a hierarchy in which the soft feminine is subsumed by the hard masculine, and no where is this more evident than in the art world today.

For the artist Aigana Gali, to make work and release it into the world is an act of selflessness, one that begins in the safety of her studio and ends when delivered into a space like Maison Suri, where it is received with kindness and a depth of understanding.  Like windows into another world, Aigana Gali’s paintings articulate the wild, untethered spirit of the artist’s homeland; the fundamental, irrepressible nature of the Eurasian Steppe. They recall wide open, light filled vistas where the spirit roams free, uninhibited. Here is the pale light of dawn against the soft departure of night (Altyn Orda); there the throb of infrared (Nadir).

 “Kazakhstan is dominated by vast barren lands of the Central Asian steppe.⠀Justlike the ocean, it is a vast horizon of “nothing” that holds much magic inside. My Steppe paintings describe the ever changing theatre of light and colour found in these wide open, empty spaces.”

This is a portal into which the viewer can journey through her monumental Steppe into the manifestation of Tengri Lightworks. Whilst different in nature, both series are intimately bound; Steppe can be viewed as a long meditation, on the totality of nothingness and our relationship with colour, which cleared the ground for the Tengri Lightworks to emerge, in a process of automatic painting. Together these works are presented within the context of a sacred space, uniting ancient and contemporary architecture into one vision; housing Aigana’s essential relationship with her nomadic culture. In a wider context, Aigana’s paintings are a reflection on the factors that shape our personal and collective understanding, in particularhow we belong to the present - held between past and future narratives.

For the artist this oneness is contingent on two things – a safe space in which to abandon the self to the act of making and a safe space in which to share this work with an audience.  

“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
― Anaïs Nin