TEODORA AXENTE

In this exhibition, From Horizon of the Matter, Rises the Vertical of the Soul, Axente applies a driven sense of discomfort to the viewer. Themes of decay, aging and societal destruction feature heavily in her work, which takes its inspiration from the Dutch Golden Age of Painting, Early Renaissance and Sienese School. Creating a visual college solely through oils on canvas, the artist invites the viewer into a world of her own; where her figurative subjects are immersed in an environment that straddles the tangible, material, spiritual and elusive.

Humanoid and hybrid, these foreground bodies are often surrealist in form; traditional on the surface but with limbs replaced with those from insects, animals and fantastical creatures. They are surrounded by an intricate assortment of fabrics—gilded foils, satin pillows and nylon bags—that emphasise the artist’s fascination with the material. Represented through darkened singular still-life works and portraiture, these figures often surround a serene tablescape on which lay symbolic objects. Their duality speaks to the thresholds between life and death, leading the viewer to a dreamlike state of suspended belief.

The artist’s religious beliefs are key to her practice, evident in the visual history and splendour of her paintings. Her works are often didactic, from illustrating specific Eastern Orthodox teachings, such as The Seven Sins, which stands in deliberate contrast to the Seven Virtues depicted on Siena’s Fontana Gaia. Located in Piazza del Campo, created in the 15th century by Jacopo della Quercia, the Fontana Gaia celebrates the Virgin Mary, the city of Siena, and the Seven Christian Virtues. Axente subverts this tradition by offering a counter-narrative, replacing the virtuous with the sinful, thereby questioning contemporary spiritual and moral decay.

Another painting, The Five Senses depicts a table where each plate holds a removed sensory limb. With the table motif as a space of dialogue, these paintings speak to the fragmentation and sensory isolation associated with transformation. The Moment—selected by the gallery to be presented at The Armory Show in New York—features symbolism characteristic of the artist’s paintings: the pomegranate for death and rebirth, the insect for metamorphosis, the water for sanctification, and the presence of a sacred book referencing the famous Evangeliario preserved in the Duomo of Siena.

Following the London exhibition, Teodora Axente will debut her first major institutional solo show, Metamorfosi del Sacro, at the historic Santa Maria della Scala Museum in Siena, curated by Riccardo Freddo and Michela Eremita. One of Europe’s most significant cultural institutions, the 12th-century museum complex stands as a powerful emblem of Siena’s spiritual and artistic heritage, housing a vast collection of artworks and archaeological treasures spanning over a millennium. Metamorfosi del Sacro will open on 13 November 2025, marking a pivotal moment in Axente’s career.

Drawing directly on the Museum’s material memory and mythology and the city of Siena itself, viewers will experience specific references to the architecture and artefacts on site. Fresco cycles serve as compositional backdrops, while motifs such as insects, cocoons, lilies, ladders and the chalice are reframed as agents of transformation. Religious symbolism inspired by the cathedral runs through these works, created especially for this exhibition. The works will reference specific relics acquired by the institution from the Empress of Constantinople, like the nail that bound Christ’s hand to the cross, his blood and the veil of the Virgin Mary. Another painting reimagines frescoes from the museum walls inside a ladder (Scala), symbol of the museum and of humanity’s vertical ascent.

The exhibition, one of the first of its kind, will take over the Piano Nobile of the museum space. Once a Christian hospital for pilgrims and the city’s orphaned children, medical iconography and surgical instruments are also reimagined by the artist through their surreal signature style; transformed into secular relics that reflect the historical site and honour its spiritual identity as a place of care. In direct response to the artist’s work, the exhibition opening will feature a concert and a special performance, directed by Anna Lea Antolini, in dialogue with one another.

From Horizon of the Matter, Rises the Vertical of the Soul will open at gallery rosenfeld from 22 September to 24 October 2025. Metamorfosi del Sacro will open at the Museum of Santa Maria della Scala from 13 November 2025 to January 2026.