Artists
Etel Adnan
Etel Adnan was an American-Lebanese painter and writer whose expressive, poetic landscapes offer intimate visions of both American and Middle Eastern scenes. Her knowledge of philosophy of art emerges in her body of work where vibrant stretches of colour become concise but deeply humane visions of hope.
Francis Bacon
In many ways Francis Bacon’s raw images of abject bodily distortions answer the Surrealist Andre Breton’s call for a ‘convulsive beauty’. The figures that populate his paintings express not only the collective cultural anxieties of post-war Europe, but also his intimate emotional struggles.
Brian Clarke
Over the last five decades, architectural artist Brian Clarke has produced works that expand and redefine our understanding of stained glass. His practice is dedicated to liberating the medium both from its relegation to the side-lines of art history and the confines of architecture, bringing it into new contexts. He is the leading voice championing the expressive capacity of glass and is responsible for some of the most radical technological innovations in the modern era of stained glass production.
Peter Doig
Peter Doig’s visionary paintings and prints transform ordinary moments from life into enthralling compositions bursting with colour. His practice is in constant conversation with his itinerant lifestyle, resulting in images with suggestive narratives that are deeply embedded in the artist’s sense of place. Doig’s works are personal reflections on his life experiences and the world that surrounds him, drawing on memories and stories to construct relatable images.
Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud was a British painter and draughtsman, celebrated for his provocative portraits and nudes. Hailed by some critics as the last great figurative artist, Freud combined his interest in anatomy with an attention to the psychology of his sitters. Over a 60-year-long career he completed hundreds of portraits of friends and family, immediately recognisable for their sombre palette, angular anatomies and thick impasto.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was born in the small village of Pori, Finland in 1865. Although he was from a Swedish-speaking family, he is famous primarily for his illustrations of the 19th century Finnish national epic poem ‘Kalevala’. This composition assembles collective oral traditions and recounts the ancient Finnish creation myth of the earth, plants and animals through a set of old ballads, lyrical songs and incantations. Throughout his career Gallen-Kallela produced hundreds of emotional paintings of Finland’s countryside and its dwellers, always incorporating a mixture of artistic styles of the time.
Alberto Giacometti
Alberto Giacometti was a Swiss sculptor and painter, famed for his trademark sculptural technique of rough, eroded and consumed surfaces. Born in 1901 into a family of artists, Giacometti also produced often overlooked prints and drawings which poignantly continue his search to identify man’s place in the modern world.
Damien Hirst
Colourful spots, animals frozen in time, glorious butterfly wings and a skull set with diamonds are just some icons of Damien Hirst’s boundary-redefining career. Internationally recognised for his irreverent approach to artmaking, blurring the lines between media and expanding their possibilities, Hirst has helped set contemporary art on a practically limitless course. Through a decisive interplay of technology, technique and material, Hirst’s artworks engage with his signature themes of love, death, religion, science, belief and beauty to create works that are both visually and conceptually compelling.
Hans Holbein the Younger
Few names in the history of early modern art are more celebrated than that of Hans Holbein the Younger, the court portraitist who immortalised the Tudor aristocracy as well as eminent humanists and intellectuals across Europe. Holbein’s versatile skills combined the Northern European gothic tradition with the artistic trends of the Italian Renaissance, producing not only paintings but also prints, miniatures and jewellery designs.
Invader
The elusive street artist Invader uses his now-ubiquitous pixelated characters to bring the digital world to the physical world and art to the masses. Self-described as an Unidentified Free Artist (UFA) whose identity is perennially hidden behind masks and digital pixelations, his pseudonym reflects his artistic practice - to invade public spaces with art.
Arthur Jafa
Arthur Jafa is an American artist who works seamlessly across film, photography, happenings, moving image and sound installation, found material and prints. His work explores and questions the Black experience in American culture, encompassing its beauty, power and alienation.
JR
In his own words, French artist JR creates ‘infiltrating art’ and is driven by an ambition to bring art to as many people as possible. Hence, he creates epic installations all over the world, involving hundreds of thousands of people and blurring the line between artist, artwork, spectator and participant.
Gerhard Richter
Gerhard Richter’s artistic explorations, which stretch over more than six decades, constitute a radical attempt to integrate representation and abstraction. Known for his painted copies of black and white photographs rendered with a blurred effect, Richter has broadened the potentials of both photography and painting.
Francis Bacon
In many ways Francis Bacon’s raw images of abject bodily distortions answer the Surrealist Andre Breton’s call for a ‘convulsive beauty’. The figures that populate his paintings express not only the collective cultural anxieties of post-war Europe, but also his intimate emotional struggles.
Peter Doig
Peter Doig’s visionary paintings and prints transform ordinary moments from life into enthralling compositions bursting with colour. His practice is in constant conversation with his itinerant lifestyle, resulting in images with suggestive narratives that are deeply embedded in the artist’s sense of place. Doig’s works are personal reflections on his life experiences and the world that surrounds him, drawing on memories and stories to construct relatable images.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was born in the small village of Pori, Finland in 1865. Although he was from a Swedish-speaking family, he is famous primarily for his illustrations of the 19th century Finnish national epic poem ‘Kalevala’. This composition assembles collective oral traditions and recounts the ancient Finnish creation myth of the earth, plants and animals through a set of old ballads, lyrical songs and incantations. Throughout his career Gallen-Kallela produced hundreds of emotional paintings of Finland’s countryside and its dwellers, always incorporating a mixture of artistic styles of the time.
Damien Hirst
Colourful spots, animals frozen in time, glorious butterfly wings and a skull set with diamonds are just some icons of Damien Hirst’s boundary-redefining career. Internationally recognised for his irreverent approach to artmaking, blurring the lines between media and expanding their possibilities, Hirst has helped set contemporary art on a practically limitless course. Through a decisive interplay of technology, technique and material, Hirst’s artworks engage with his signature themes of love, death, religion, science, belief and beauty to create works that are both visually and conceptually compelling.
Invader
The elusive street artist Invader uses his now-ubiquitous pixelated characters to bring the digital world to the physical world and art to the masses. Self-described as an Unidentified Free Artist (UFA) whose identity is perennially hidden behind masks and digital pixelations, his pseudonym reflects his artistic practice - to invade public spaces with art.
JR
In his own words, French artist JR creates ‘infiltrating art’ and is driven by an ambition to bring art to as many people as possible. Hence, he creates epic installations all over the world, involving hundreds of thousands of people and blurring the line between artist, artwork, spectator and participant.