RESTLESS
AN EXHIBITION TO CELEBRATE ART + ACTIVISM
ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
CHRISTIE’S LONDON - 8 KING STREET
Viewing 16th October 2023, 4PM - 6PM & 17th October 2023, 9AM - 5PM
Drinks reception 17th October from 6PM to 8:30PM
Curated by Marika Kielland
RESTLESS Text by Lars Elton
Can irises be compared to human bodies? Can flowers flow in space in a similar way as bodies move?
In 2014 Siri Stolt-Nielsen exhibited emotionally raw drawings of restless bodies that appeared to transcend the limits of the sheets on which they were drawn. Nine years later she has turned her artistic gaze toward a classic motif: the Iris. Irises have appeared in several famous artists’ oeuvre.
Siri Stolt-Nielsen has managed to find a transition from human bodies to irises that seamlessly flows between temperament and rhythm. In search of an alteration that expands and takes care of the intense and impulsive execution of her bodily observations, she had to find a line of expression that is as intense and direct in its execution. To give the fragile flowers a figurative intensity, she had to dig deep into her own conviction as a Human Rights Watch activist. When she found that sentiment, the formal expression fell into place. That is why her irises appear as personalities, and not as mere flowers.
Press Siri Stolt-Nielsen: – For meg går kunst og aktivisme hånd i hånd - Ingrid Hårstad og Madeleine Hofgaard-Bjerke, COSTUME
After 15 years, I am stepping down from the Human Rights Watch International Board of Directors. Art + Activism is a HRW initiative that I have been closely involved with and will always be committed to. For me, art and activism go hand in hand.
Art plays a powerful role in the storytelling of human rights abuses; it transcends where we come from, who we think we are, and where we think we are going. Art speaks to every audience regardless of their background. Where there is humanity there is art.
I think that art in every form, can allow an internal visualisation of truth, and especially when abuse is present, it has the power to ignite one’s heart to act on the feelings that come with that experience.
I am strongly aware of the unique and fundamental connection between art and activism. This bond feels to me like a kind of collaboration, where there is an ongoing dialogue between artists and activists so that together we shine a light on what we think humanity is and isn’t, what rights we have or should have, and what it looks like when those rights are absent or abused.
I will forever be an artist and activist, that’s who I am.
— the restless Siri Stolt-Nielsen
“Siri shows us that a drawing can be made totally unfiltered and immediate.”
“There is a balance to the chaos, Siri’s drawing acting as a channel for anger and frustration.”
With thanks to:
Christie’s for supporting this exhibition
Also my gratitude to:
Nadia Stolt-Nielsen Wikborg · Katinka Traaseth · Rosie Williams · Aoife O’Brien · Joan Blackman · Katja K. Bergstrøm · Mary Petherick · Herbert van Litsenburg
Lars Elton is a freelance journalist, critic and editor. He is best known as the art and architecture critic for VG, Norway’s largest newspaper.
Photo: Manuel Ramos