Joana Galego, Where Strangers Played Cards, 2024
Acrylic, watercolour and poster paint on paper, 34.5 x 27cm.
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. 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.
This luminous, unframed painting on paper is one of a new body of works which evolved during an artistic residency in India, in late 2023. The mountains depicted refer to the Himalayas. Joana says: ‘I used to pass by a group of men playing cards under a group of trees, next to animal cages in Manali. I thought every day of painting them. I felt self-conscious about my interest in their game, so I ended up drawing their empty chairs and tables instead.’
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 ‘Mole Lunar Sinal’ at Soho Revue in 2023. 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, Portugal and India and her work is held in numerous private collections. She currently lives and works in south east London.
Acrylic, watercolour and poster paint on paper, 34.5 x 27cm.
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. 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.
This luminous, unframed painting on paper is one of a new body of works which evolved during an artistic residency in India, in late 2023. The mountains depicted refer to the Himalayas. Joana says: ‘I used to pass by a group of men playing cards under a group of trees, next to animal cages in Manali. I thought every day of painting them. I felt self-conscious about my interest in their game, so I ended up drawing their empty chairs and tables instead.’
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 ‘Mole Lunar Sinal’ at Soho Revue in 2023. 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, Portugal and India and her work is held in numerous private collections. She currently lives and works in south east London.
Acrylic, watercolour and poster paint on paper, 34.5 x 27cm.
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. 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.
This luminous, unframed painting on paper is one of a new body of works which evolved during an artistic residency in India, in late 2023. The mountains depicted refer to the Himalayas. Joana says: ‘I used to pass by a group of men playing cards under a group of trees, next to animal cages in Manali. I thought every day of painting them. I felt self-conscious about my interest in their game, so I ended up drawing their empty chairs and tables instead.’
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 ‘Mole Lunar Sinal’ at Soho Revue in 2023. 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, Portugal and India and her work is held in numerous private collections. She currently lives and works in south east London.
