The fine arts marketplace Avant Arte has announced its first-ever public art program in partnership with London’s cultural destination King’s Cross. For the inaugural project, the platform has welcomed the American artist Tschabalala Self in to create commissioned works, which will be seen at Coal Drops Yard from October 5 through the spring of 2023. The special exhibition will set a precedent for a future lineup of work by leading contemporary artists, part of Avant Arte’s mission of accessibility for all in the arts.
“We’re thrilled to be bringing this incredible installation by one of the world’s most exciting artists to Coal Drops Yard this Autumn,” said Gemma Rolls-Bentley, Avant Arte’s Chief Curator. “Our mission is to make art radically more accessible, so to be able to bring art into the very pathways people use every day is a natural progression for us—we invite everyone to join us in King’s Cross from October and discover what is only the beginning of a dynamic, diverse arts program.”
Tschabalala Self in the studio overseeing production of her first public sculpture, 2022 image courtesy of Avant Arte, © Oak Taylor-Smith.
Situated in the center of King’s Cross on Lewis Cubitt Square, Self’s installation calls upon her practice’s current focus—domestic space and trappings—by encompassing explorations of race, gender, sexuality, and the Black female body as an icon. Cast in bronze, this work will be her largest work to date, looking at ideas of domesticity through the means of taking up space, which Self has embodied through a large seated figure.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how audiences will respond and engage with this work,” said Self. “I wanted to reference the quotidienne with this sculpture: choosing the act of taking a seat as a daily, universal gesture of leisure and calm. I wanted to create a monumental sculpture for the public, in a public space, that spoke to this simple joy whilst acknowledging the power such a simple gesture can have in asserting one’s right to take up space in this realm.”
Tschabalala Self in the studio overseeing production of her first public sculpture, 2022 image courtesy of Avant Arte, © Oak Taylor-Smith.
Alongside the public work, Avant Arte will present accompanying programming and material, including a deep dive into the artist’s practice that will be available both on- and offline, and a series of two editions of 25 bronze sculptural works and 12 silkscreen prints available for sale. Concurrently, at Pilar Corrias’s spaces on Savile Row and Eastcastle Street, the gallery will present Self’s solo exhibition “Home Body,” (October 6–November 12) which will continue her look at domestic space through paintings, sculpture, works on paper, and furniture.
Tschabalala Self, 2021, courtesy of the artist, © Christian DeFonte.
