This autumn, The Hepworth Wakefield will present the largest solo show of Louise Giovanelli’s work to date, including a new series of specially commissioned paintings that will go on display for the first time.
Giovanelli is known for beautifully crafting large-scale oil paintings that capture fleeting, moments and sensual textures in vivid colours. Her subject matter is diverse, ranging across staged photographs, film stills, classical sculpture and architectural elements. Regular motifs in her works include fabrics and locks of hair, components that are notoriously hard to capture in oil paint. Giovanelli’s work is as much influenced by Renaissance art, as popular culture from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and she creates her luminescent work using classical painting techniques, building up thin layers of highly pigmented oil paint.
In her new body of work, which includes a huge triptych, two diptychs and several single panels, Giovanelli will revisit the motif of the curtain or drape, a subject she is often drawn to. As with many of Giovanelli’s paintings, they resist clear storytelling, instead encouraging viewers to focus on the atmosphere they evoke and to appreciate moments that might otherwise go unnoticed. She explains: "These curtains, once thrown back offer the promise of entering another realm – and once closed, contain that promise. The painting hangs in a suspended state, leaving us to wonder whether the show is over or just beginning."
Seemingly theatrically lit, these tactile curtains are a means for Giovanelli to explore the formal possibilities of colour meeting light and texture. Paradoxically, these sumptuous scenes are often inspired by photographs of local community theatres or working men’s clubs, established across the UK in the 19th century to provide the working classes with entertainment, social interaction, and a sense of community. These clubs and theatres often now appear outdated and neglected, but Giovanelli’s sumptuous painting infuses them with a sense of opulence.
The curtains will be displayed alongside a selection of both new and existing smaller paintings featuring closely-cropped faces that ambiguously convey conflicting emotions of turmoil or ecstasy – torn, gasping mouths, distorted features, and contorted necks. These pieces reflect the artist’s fascination with how intense experiences like religious devotion, intoxication, or lust can lead to similar altered states of consciousness. In some pieces, the reflections of light on hair or fabric create an effect that is hyper-realistic yet remain decisively elusive. This technique mirrors the artist’s exploration of the blurred lines between the sacred and the monstrous – how experiences that seem holy or divine can share similarities with those that are frightening or grotesque.
Marie-Charlotte Carrier, Curator at The Hepworth Wakefield, said "We are delighted to be presenting some of Giovanelli’s most ambitious work to date. The installation of the enormous curtain paintings within the high-ceilinged architecture of The Hepworth Wakefield’s galleries will create a dramatic experience for visitors to encounter Giovanelli’s work. Together with the selection of existing works, we will provide an introduction to one of the most innovative and talented artists working today."
Louise Giovanelli was born in London in 1993 and grew up in Monmouthshire in Wales. She earned her BA in Fine Art at the Manchester School of Art in 2015, before completing her postgraduate studies at Städelschule in Frankfurt (2018–20). Giovanelli now lives and works in Manchester. In 2023 she founded the Apollo Painting School together with gallerist and curator Alice Amati, and artist and academic Dr. Ian Hartshorne to provide an alternative post graduate provision for aspiring artists.
A new book will be published to accompany the exhibition, providing unique insights into Giovanelli’s practice and the themes that permeate her work. It will feature an interview between Louise Giovanelli and The Hepworth Wakefield’s Curator, Marie-Charlotte Carrier; an essay exploring Giovanelli’s curtain motif by writer and curator, Phoebe Cripps; and creative responses to horror themes and intoxication in Giovanelli’s work respectively by writer and author, Charlie Fox and Manchester-based artist and researcher, Helenskià Collett.
The exhibition is generously supported by the Ryan Taylor Collection. It is organised in collaboration with Halle fur Kunst in Graz Austria, where the exhibition will be presented in summer 2025.
Header Image: Louise Giovanelli, Prairie, 2022 © DACS. Photo © White Cube (Ollie Hammick). Courtesy of the artist and White Cube
