Danziger Gallery is pleased to announce our representation of the acclaimed British painter Annie Kevans. Known for the originality of her ideas as well as the deftness and beauty of her brushstrokes, since 2004 Kevans has produced multiple series of portraits with provocative historical, social, or political concepts. Among the series she has produced over the last decade are: “Boys” - dictators imagined as their young selves. “Girls” – about the commodification of girls in popular culture “Collaborators” – portraits of Nazi collaborators from Louis Vuitton to Coco Chanel. Our exhibition, opening on November 2, will be based largely on the series "The History of Art” comprising portraits of 20 women artists, either renowned in their time but now largely forgotten, or who initially came to be known via their association with more powerful male artists. A response to the one-sidedness of art history, and in addition to the many factors that weigh against women artists, in Kevans’ view a person’s historical significance is diminished when you cannot put a face to a name. Her series seeks to rectify that. The pictured artists are Artemisia Gentileschi, Elizabeth Butler, Gabrielle Capet, Giulia Lama, Lavinia Fontana, Marguerite Gerard, Marie Bracquemond, Rachel Ruysch, Rosalba Carriera, Amrita Sher-Gil, Edmonia Lewis, Kathe Kollwitz, Marisol, and Lily Martin Spencer. (Capsule descriptions of their work and life will be available at the gallery front desk.) Better known names are Angelica Kauffmann, Berthe Morisot, Georgia O’Keeffe, Frida Kahlo, Eva Hesse, and Diane Arbus. Also in the show are selections from other series: “All The President’s Girls” - from Presidential mistresses to the offspring of Presidents and their slaves. "Drag" - portraits of Warhol, Duchamp, Mapplethorpe and other male artists who pictured themselves in drag. “All About Eve” – British royal mistresses and their descendants. “The Muses of Jean Paul Gaultier” – a series commissioned by the designer. Kevans’ place in the British art world started at art school when her series, “Boys”, was bought by Charles Saatchi from her 2004 Central St. Martins School of Art degree show. The series was subsequently exhibited in its entirety at the Saatchi Gallery as part of the exhibition “Paper”. Kevans has exhibited in group shows at leading museums including the Barbican Art Gallery, the Royal Academy, the Grand Palais, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, and the Marres Centre for Contemporary Art in Maastricht. Her work can be found in major collections, including the Pallant House Gallery, the David Roberts Collection, 21c Museum, as well as in the collections of Lord Rothermere, Marc Quinn, and Jean Pigozzi.
