Joana Galego
Portugese-born artist Joana Galego’s images are informed by – in her words – ‘memories and feelings rather than actual events’. Firmly rooted in drawing, her paintings and works on paper are characterised by a vibrant palette and a visual language partly inspired by historical artists including Piero de la Francesca and Paul Gaugin.
Joana uses layering and changes of perspective to create multiple narratives within her compositions, which range from intimate to grand in scale. Figures – both adult and childlike – are seen hiding, embracing, resting and playing together in a range of dreamlike scenarios. However, a sense of stillness prevails, despite the activities of the artist’s subjects.
Joana’s combining of mixed media - which includes pastel, pencil, acrylic and charcoal - provides areas of texture within her works on paper. Collaged sections contrast with detailed linear areas resulting in a seductive surface quality. Heightened colour runs through many of her works; it is used, she says, ‘to evoke the emotion of the figures, what they are feeling, and to create an atmosphere’.
Joana graduated from the University of Lisbon in 2016 and subsequently moved to London to attend the Royal Drawing School between 2016 and 2017. Her work has been exhibited in numerous group shows in London and Portugal including the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize for which she was shortlisted in 2019. Solo exhibitions include ‘Spring and All’ at the Royal Drawing School, London, in 2019, and ‘o lugar indeciso’, Museu das Artes de Sintra, Portugal, 2016. Joana has been awarded prizes including The Sir Denis Mahon Award from the Royal Drawing School (2017). She has undertaken artistic residencies in the USA and Portugal and her work is held in numerous private collections. We were proud to exhibit Joana’s work for the first time in our 2023 open house group exhibition ‘Power Play’; we also launched a new collection of paintings on paper in early 2024. Joana currently lives and works in south east London.