We are thrilled to announce Beard's new limited edition prints, which will be exhibited at The Residence. The launch of the prints will take place in presence of the artist on January 29th 2022.
Daringly erotic and visually tender, Helen Beard's works are as provocative as they are sensual. Her depictions strip bodies down to pure form and colour. The onlooker is both a voyeur and a witness to what is innately human; the eye caresses the skin and the visible brushstrokes appear as repositories of a touch. To see Beard's work is to participate in the liberating, humorous, and carnal renditions of our own humanity.
Following the artist's 2020 sold-out solo exhibition at Reflex Amsterdam, we are pleased to announce a new series of limited edition prints. The Lunar Portfolio (2021) includes four prints of Beard's Moon paintings in unique polychromatic colour combinations. In addition to this series, we are also premiering limited editions of The First Cut is the Deepest (2021) and Night With Bright Kisses (2021); both are startling, intimate depictions of female desire. All prints are on view in Reflex, the Residence from January 29th onwards. All prints are available for order now.
The Lunar Portfolio presents Beard's exploration of colour combinations. Each colouris placed next to its contrast, intentionally there to juxtapose its neighbour. Together,the four prints—Yellow Moon, Blue Moon, Red Moon, Pink Moon—create a daunting landscape of nuance and hues. Installed together as a monumental square, they are a playful art historical reference to Andy Warhol's paintings and silkscreens.
Alongside this portfolio, The First Cut is the Deepest elegantly and explicitly showcases Beard's work with desire. The clean lines and strict demarcation of one colour-field from the other playfully acts as a counterpoint to the untamed subject matter. Importantly for Beard, her depictions are meant to be joyous: 'Sketching the angles, bodies and positions is important, but the thing I am most trying to achieve is a sense of connection.' The two figures entangled with one another are both abstract and lucid; just as tangible and imperceptible as human connection itself.
On Night With Bright Kisses, two figures lean yearningly towards one another with pouty lips. Captured at the moment before the kiss itself, tension and suspension fill the air. This is at the heart of Beard's practice; the audiences cannot help but participate. Albeit a still image, the viewer's imagination imbues it with movement as the kiss is finalised in their minds.We are thrilled to announce Beard's new limited edition prints. In addition to this launch, the artist will be the first resident at Reflex, the Residence ahead of her solo exhibition in the summer of 2022. This second space opened in July 2021 and functions as a private showroom, gallery, temporary home for artists, library, and meeting space for collectors to gain inspiration in our innovative house of art. Please forward any questions [email protected].
Press release courtesy Reflex Amsterdam.
Lijnbaansgracht 290 A
1017 RM
Amsterdam
Netherlands
www.reflexamsterdam.com
+31 (0) 20 627 28 32
The gallery is open by appointment only until further notice.