Press Release
Working with both established names and early-career artists, common sense gallery is centred on expanding opportunities for artists to gain wider international exposure and visibility. Diversity is at the heart of our practice, and we represent artists from multiple generations and cultural backgrounds. This mix facilitates what we see as the true function of art: dialogue across borders, both physical and mental.
As an upcoming European gallery, we are looking forward to establishing ourselves at such a prestigious event in London. The LAF’s history as well as its mix of contemporary and classic is a perfect match for our curation style. Our focus for the London Art Fair is on international aspiring artists creating work that could be described as vibrant, experimental, timeless, vivid and luminous in colour. We will show artworks that range from dreamlike figurative pieces to the abstract, that speak the language of contemporary art spaces and that celebrate colour and material.
More than the sum of its parts, common sense gallery’s proposed booth brings together four renowned female visual artists whose work encompasses a variety of disciplines to create new provocations. Building into the Fair’s focus on British artists, two of our ensemble are London-based while the other two members of the collection hail from Denmark and the Caribbean. Our presentation will host oil on canvas works by Pauline Marcelle and by Tine Nedbo; acrylic abstract paintings by Makiko Harris, and resin totem doll sculptures by London-native Lauren Baker.
Makiko Harris supplies an outlandish and abstract dreamscape, which Pauline Marcelle populates with timeless figures of celebration. Originally from the Caribbean, Marcelle brings the vitality of black bodies to the canvas. Her paintings reference and pay homage to the region’s mythologies; legends of rebellion and maroonage where black heroines take centre stage. Passionate about environmental issues and sustainability, Lauren Baker’s sculptures - conceptually grounded but also aesthetically striking, explore symbolism and communing with nature and the elements. Tine Nedbo’s still lives return us to reality. Her portraits of towering figures exhibit gestures of belonging, disarmed in their realms of self-government, surrounded by vibrant textures suggesting an anticipation of movement, their gazes are simultaneously arresting, demanding, confrontational and resigned. All of our artists are perched on the liminal spaces of contemporary society, inviting us to consider what lies beyond the net that seems to shroud our consciousness.
With all the artworks specifically created for the London Art Fair, our display will excite visitors looking for fresh upcoming artists and who seek to explore the new horizons they showcase. We are excited to gain international exposure for our rising stars as well as connecting on a personal level with patrons and fellow curators from across the entire Fair. We love the interplay of Art Fairs and the possibilities they hold for serendipitous collaborations. We look forward to our ensemble of artists being part of the LAF’s story.
Photo credits: Sofia Petina