Sundaram Tagore Hong Kong is pleased to present an exhibition showcasing the work of eight historically significant female artists from different generations and cultures. Using distinct media, technique and language, but ultimately sharing similar sensibilities, all of these women are engaged in thought-provoking intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic explorations.
Brought together to coincide with International Women’s Day on 8 March, 8 Women / 8 Stories is a tribute to the achievements of these internationally renowned artists: Miya Ando, Golnaz Fathi, Denise Green, Annie Leibovitz, Judith Murray, Joan Vennum, Merrill Wagner and Susan Weil.
The sublime metal canvases and sculptures of New York-based artist Miya Ando articulate themes of contradiction and juxtaposition of ideas. A descendant of Bizen sword makers, she was raised among sword smiths and Buddhist priests in a temple in Okayama, Japan. Applying traditional techniques of her ancestry, she skillfully transforms sheets of burnished industrial steel, using heat and chemicals, into ephemeral abstractions suffused with subtle gradations of color and texture.
Miya Ando attended Yale University to study Buddhist iconography and imagery and she apprenticed at the master metal smith Hattori Studio in Japan. She is the recipient of many awards, including the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2012. Her work was recently included in an exhibition curated by Nat Trotman of the Guggenheim Museum. Among her public commissions is most notably a thirty-foot tall commemorative sculpture in London built from World Trade Center steel to mark the ten-year anniversary of 9/11.
Iranian-born Golnaz Fathi's paintings and works on paper are transcultural both in concept and execution. Having trained as a calligrapher for six years during which she practiced the Arabic alphabet for up to eight hours a day, Fathi successfully reinterprets this ancient art form by transforming known language into abstract forms. The strength of her work lies in the emotion suggested by the rhythmic gestures of her mark making.
Golnaz Fathi has works in the collections of The British Museum, London; Chelsea Art Museum, New York; Brighton & Hove Museum, England; Carnegie Mellon University, Doha; the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; October Gallery, London; the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; and The Farjam Collection, Dubai.
American painter Susan Weil has been at the epicenter of New York’s contemporary art world since the 1950s. An innovative and influential member of the New York school, she deftly combines unexpected materials—including collage, blueprint and paint on acrylic, wood and recycled canvas—to create dimensional works exploring the passage of time and movement. Weil is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.
Susan Weil’s work is included in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; the National Museum, Stockholm; Helsinki City Art Museum; and Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid.
Image: © Denise Green, Sundaram Tagore Gallery
