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We asked 39 artists what they did to relax, here are their answers…

We asked 39 artists what they did to relax, here are their answers…

Paul Weiner (@POWeiner) – I cook. I’m really into Indian food and cauliflower lately. One of my favorites is aloo gobi.

Benjamin Murphy (@BenjaminMurphy_) – I read books in cafés with Oona.

Charley Peters (@CharleyPeters) – I don’t relax. It’s the one thing I’m completely crap at.

Remi Rough (@RemiRough) – I make music, mostly on my laptop but sometimes I play guitar too.

Jonny Green (@JonnyGreenArt) – Meditate, align my chakras, smoke crack.

Richard Stone (@Artist_Stone) – I avoid all social media! Ha, music always dramatically shifts my mood in the best way and I do like being out of London, often in the country.

Sally Bourke (@Justondark) – I’m learning how to make clay. Though if we are talking deep relaxation I like trash tv.

Kevin Perkins (@Kevin_Perkins_) – It’s a bit trite, but exercise is great for me. Lately I’ve been climbing.

Lee Johnson (@LeeJohnson.eu) – Art books mainly, with a good whisky and test match cricket.

Jenny Brosinski (@Jenny_Brosisnski) – Hang out on my studio Sofa.

Andy Dixon (@Andy.Dxn) – I ask myself that same question from time to time. I’m still working on self-care concepts like taking days off and vacationing but so far failing pretty miserably at them. You can tell I’m bad at it by the way I just used the word “working” regarding taking time off.

Klone Yourself (@KloneYourself) – I travel alone and visiting the sea/ocean. Any kind of desert dry/wet realy calms me down.

Daisy Parris (@DaisyParris) – Painting is what relaxes me most but other than that I’ll listen to new music or go to the cinema or eat pizza.

Jake Chapman (@JakeChapmaniac) – Yoga.

Tom Anholt (@TomAnholt) – Play football

Spencer Shakespeare (@SpencerShakespeare) -Smoke pot listen play look draw, feel paint

Rowan Newton (@Rowan_Newton) – Watering my 76 plants and reading about furniture design and history. And exploring London on my bike, as it’s ever evolving.

Hayden Kays (@HaydenKays) – 6 Espresso martinis, a bucket of Vodka Red Bull, a fistful of Pro Plus, a couple of lines of small print and a patchy internet connection usually does the trick.

Matthew Allen (@Matthew__Allen) – We are lucky in Amsterdam that there are a number of great parks, so when I need to chill out I go and walk in Nature.

Rae Hicks (@Rae_Hicks_On_Gangs) – Watch the Sopranos whilst eating Italian food. Preferably mirroring what they are actually eating. With red wine.

Jonni Cheatwood (@Jonni_Cheatwood) – I’m a home body. I just want something to drink, lay on the couch with my wife & dog with comfy clothes and something mindless to watch… like Love Island.

Andrew Salgado (@Andrew.Salgado.Art) – yoga. travel. read novels.

Soumya Netrabile (@Netrabile) – I read and listen to a lot of music.

Luke Hannam (@LukeHannamPaintings) – Walk the dog.

Hedley Roberts (@HedleyRoberts) – Painting is a good way to relax. Other than that, I work out, or fiddle about with a guitar, swim in the sea at Margate, work on my motorbike or my campervan, tend my plants in my garden or lay on the sofa with my partner and our dog watching box sets.

Nick JS Thompson (@nickjsthompson) – I find it really hard to relax. Cooking helps me to switch off but getting out of the city and turning off electronic devices does the trick!

Neva Hosking (@NevaHosking) – I go hang out in my greenhouse til I feel better.

Justin Long (@_JustinLong) – @ves.studio

Erin Lawlor (@TheErinLawlor) – Swim – it’s another form of immersion.

Tony Riff (@TonyRiff) – Listening to music, drawing and daydreaming, mostly.

Justin Lee Williams (@ArtJLW) – Surf , play music , and fish. I think having time away from art is equally important as the art work itself.

Jordy Kerwick (@JordyKerwick) – Paint

Wingshan Smith (@wingshansmith) – Scrolling through astrology memes.

Fiona Grady (@Fiona_Grady) – I love watching films and reading novels for the escapism – it keeps me sane!

Obit (@LazyObit) – I play with my bunny, Pipsqueak or go cycling or have sex

Anthony Cudahy (@AnthonyCudahy) – I wish I had an answer to this – I’d be a lot healthier.

Johnny Thornton (@_JohnnyThornton) – I’m pretty busy between my art practice, my role as a gallery director, my social life and my need to see as much art as I can…so I don’t have a lot of downtime but when I do I’m usually at home hanging out with my wife and dog.

Danny Romeril (@D_Romeril) – draw, watch rubbish tv, listen to music and play my guitar

Florence Hutchings (@FlorenceBH) -I like to cook, watch tv and go for a few pints of Guinness.

For more of these lists:

See how the same artists find their inspiration

See what is the one thing in the art world that they wish would disappear forever

See what is the one piece of advice they would give to a young artist at the start of their career


Sunyoung Hwang in conversation with Sarah Forman

Sarah Forman

The #LockdownEditions are a Delphian-run initiative to support some of our favourite contemporary artists during these difficult and unprecedented times. Throughout the remainder of the quarantine measures, we will be releasing a new print each week, with all of the profits going directly to the artists themselves. This week, we’re excited to feature our sixth artist, Sunyoung Hwang, to talk about the practice of walking, cutting up old works, and virtual crits.

Sarah Forman: Tell us a bit about yourself and your practice.

Sunyoung Hwang: I’m a London-based Korean artist. Since graduating from the Royal College of Art in 2016, I’ve been painting full time in a Bow Arts studio. 

I explore physical and psychological layering through an intuitive approach to painting, without preliminary sketches, drawings, or photographic references. My work can be described as a tangible representation of the unconscious, incoherent flow of metaphorically internalised thoughts, emotions, memories, impressions, and as an attempt to see the invisible accumulation of these phenomena through the tangibility of paint on canvas. 

S: Where are you based and how has the current global health crisis affected your day-to-day? 

SH: I’m based in East London; my studio is in Bow and I live in Hoxton. They are an hour’s walk apart, and I’ve been trying to walk to the studio once a week. Walking is an important part of my practice, as the process of my painting is similar to that of walking. I used to spend more time painting in the studio before COVID-19, but now I spend more time walking, which makes me feel like I’m kind of painting outside the studio. 

I realise mental health and physical health are equally important right now, so I’ve been trying to remain calm despite the frustrations and uncertainty.

S: In what ways have you changed how you work and/or what you’re working on? 

SH: I had three exhibitions originally scheduled for April and June, and like most other shows, they’ve been either cancelled or postponed with no new date confirmed. Rather than getting annoyed with this situation, I decided to have fun with this challenging time, working from home and catching up on all those things I put off all last year. 

I’ve been working on the paintings on paper I made last year when I participated in a residency programme in Lisbon. By cutting out pieces with shapes or gestures and sticking them together with different arrangements, I’ve gotten to spend more time experimenting with collaged elements.

S: How have you seen your community affected by the current COVID-19 crisis? Inside and outside the art world?

SH: The lockdown has affected how people communicate with each other, how we can be social without physically socialising. Physical distancing doesn’t mean that we are psychologically distant from each other. In the midst of gallery closures with cancellations or postponements of a number of exhibitions, everyone in the art world is still doing their jobs, creating connections, and supporting each other. Artists keep making from home and galleries are virtually presenting bodies of work, benefiting from social media, which I think we are using more meaningfully than ever before. I’ve even begun to think that, in some ways, people seem to be closer and more connected than ever before, and it might be a great opportunity to experiment with our virtual connectivity.

On the other hand, it seems like people outside the art world have been more affected by this challenging time than people inside it. A certain amount of social distancing was already a part of the daily routine of most artists, who spend at least some time alone in their studios. However, this situation is more likely to be a sudden change, stressful, for those who spend the majority of their days working with people and whose social interactions are a huge part of their lives.

S: Can you talk to us a little bit about this print and why you chose it?

SH: I was kind of surprised Delphian chose “Fizzing” to be printed, because it’s less known, even for me. It was last shown in 2017, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the painting again after three years.

S: Do you feel there’s a certain pressure to respond to what’s going on in the world right now? If so, what does that look like?

SH: I think we all need to respond to the current situation in our own way, but there is no pressure for me at all. I’m going to participate in Choose Art | Give Light to Refugees, an online auction in the fight against COVID-19 this coming June. It will raise funds to provide critical support to vulnerable communities, particularly during the current pandemic. 

S: Have you seen initiatives taking place that really scare you? Excite you?

SH: I’ve seen some great initiatives for artists in lockdown to participate in and to feel like we are distantly together, like #artistsupportpledge which was started by Matthew Burrows to provide a platform for artists themselves to share and sell their work. Virtual Peer Crit Group, organised by Kate Mothes of Young Space, for virtual critical discussion, is also awesome. It’s important for artists to be able to share, learn, and interact as usual during this crisis. I admire #LockdownEditions, which is what Delphian Gallery is doing at the moment to support artists in whatever way they can. It isn’t easy for a small gallery to take no commissions on sales, with all of the profits going directly to the artists themselves.

For More:

Moley Talhaoui in conversation 

Lucia Ferrari in Conversation

Matt Macken in conversation

Igor Moritz in conversation

B.D. Graft in conversation


Artists working in Denmark – selected by Rasmus Peter Fischer of Galerie Wolfsen

This is a list of 10 artists living and working in Denmark. It might not be the best, they are for sure not the worst, but no matter what it’s 10 artist I love and collect privatly. My name is Rasmus Peter Fischer and I both collect, curate and deal art.

Lars Calmar – Born 1968

Lars Calmar

Kirsa Andreasen – Born 1975

Rasmus Peter Fischer

Rune Christensen – Born 1980

Rune Christensen

Morten Løbner – Born 1965

Rasmus Peter Fischer

Henrik Godsk – Born 1975

Frederik Næblerød – Born 1988

Frederik næeblerød

Lasse Thorst – Born 1979

Rasmus Peter Fischer

Alessandro Painsi – Born 1995

Rasmus Peter Fischer

Julien Deiss – Born 1983

Rasmus Peter Fischer

Gurli Ellebækgaard – Born 1969

Rasmus Peter Fischer

For more by Rasmus Peter Fischer, see Galerie Wolfsen


Igor Moritz in conversation with Sarah Forman

in conversation

The #LockdownEditions are a Delphian-run initiative to support some of our favourite contemporary artists during these difficult and unprecedented times. Throughout the remainder of the quarantine measures, we will be releasing a new print each week, with all of the profits going directly to the artists themselves. This week, we’re excited to feature our fifth artist, Igor Moritz, to talk about being baseless, shifting radii and fake plants.

Sarah Forman: Tell us a bit about yourself and your practice.

Igor Moritz: I was born in 1996 in Lublin, post-communist Poland. When I was very young I migrated with my family to London, only to return back to Poland as a teenager, where I attended an art high school. My paintings are mainly focused on inner-life, and I tend to paint the people closest to me, usually portrayed in domestic landscapes but also somewhere else – deep insides their heads. 

S: Where are you based and how has the current global health crisis affected your day-to-day?

IM: My plan has been to move to London since finishing university last summer, but new residencies and shows kept on popping up in my calendar and I didn’t want to commit to high studio and flat rates only to move shortly after. I guess you could say I’m not really based anywhere. The pandemic had a hand in this, as rumours of the potential lockdown reached me a few hours before my most recent flight, so I decided to stay with my girlfriend in Grenoble in the French Alps throughout the course of the quarantine. In France, the lockdown was enforced completely, strictly and quickly, which made our lives utterly house bound. We spend the days on the balcony, where I paint. We have a nice routine with her flat mates that includes a daily exercise and cooking calendar. 

S: In what ways have you changed how you work and/or what you’re working on?

IM: The biggest change to my work has been the shift to painting on the balcony. As a result, I’m only able to work with sunlight, which has made my paintings a lot lighter. Additionally, and honestly ironically in the face of the lockdown situation, it’s meant that there are more integrated elements of the outdoors in my work. 

S: How have you seen your community affected by the current COVID-19 crisis? Inside and outside the art world?

IM: I think the pandemic has affected the community in a variety of ways. I think it has made my close circles closer and pushed the outer ones a bit further out. I personally don’t see the sense of unity and camaraderie others have been talking about. When I go to the shop everyone is a bit on edge; myself included. Regarding the art world, well despite the huge amount of shows that have been pushed, which must have really affected the galleries and artists, there are a lot more smaller works on paper being made, which I personally love to see. 

S: Can you talk to us a little bit about this print and why you chose it?

IM: The print I’m releasing as a part of the Lockdown editions is a still life called “Wiosna, 2020”. The image is of two fake plants and a bowl of fruit sitting in front of a colour field background. I think despite the very sweet vivid colours there is something slightly unsettling about this work. I think it’s worth mentioning that “wiosna” means spring in Polish. 

SF: Do you feel there’s a certain pressure to respond to what’s going on in the world right now? If so, what does that look like?

IM: I don’t like my paintings to comment on global events in any direct way, so I personally don’t feel the pressure to do so. However, there might be motifs that appear in my quarantine-made paintings, put in there for formal reasons, that may actually comment on this situation better than I possibly could. 

S: Have you seen initiatives taking place that really scare you? Excite you?

IM: I don’t know if you can call the fact that the Polish presidential elections will be conducted via mail, with no anonymity, an initiative, but that’s scary to say it politely. As for initiatives that are exciting, I think the Artists Support Pledge (https://www.instagram.com/artistsupportpledge/) is a great idea. However, I haven’t actually taken part in it, because I don’t want to be going to the post office too much nowadays. 

For more conversations with Sarah:

Moley Talhaoui

Matt Macken

Lucia Ferrari 

B.D. Graft 


Sculpture involving Sound – Selected by Harrison Pearce

For more by Harrison Pearce – see his WEBSITE

Tim Hawkinson – Pentecost

I saw this piece in Hawkison’s retrospective at the Whitney in New York back in 2005. It was the first time I’d ever seen the artist’s work and was my first real introduction to a giant sound sculpture. I still think about it.

Harrison Pierce

Haroon Mirza – HRM199: For a Partnership Society

Haroon’s solo show at Zabludowicz last year was a knockout. It was a vivid demonstration of the material reality on which our casually ephemeral idea about digital experience fallaciously rests.

Harrison pierce

Oliver Beer – Vessel Orchestra

Oli’s work at Ropac in London, where he opened the new space with a solo show, was a crisp combination of haunting warmth and analytic clarity. This was probably even better demonstrated by this recent work at The Met in New York where he got to work with some unbelievable stuff. Hopefully this will come to London in the future.

Oliver Beer

Ryoji Ikeda – Test Pattern

I saw this when Lisson Gallery took over The Store, 180 Strand, in London. It was a powerfully impressive flex of audio-visual installation. It’s a very intense work but I loved experiencing the high velocity synchronicity


Yuko Mohri – painfully

I saw this little piece at Mother’s Tankstation during Condo in London last year. Mohri makes exceptionally poised works with a delicate balance of elements that lifts mundane objects to a perplexing and poetic realm

Harrison Pierce

Hannah Perry – Rage fluids

This work at Somerset House as part of her solo show Gush was a completely captivating experience.

Hannah Perry

Nathaniel Mellors – Progressive Rocks

This was the best thing I saw back in 2018 at the New Museum. I was thoroughly amused and watched the whole fairly lengthy thing without blinking.

Harrison Pierce

Ima Abasi Okon – Infinite Slippage: nonRepugnant Insolvencies T!-a!-r!-r!-y!-i!-n!-g! as Hand Claps of M’s Hard’Loved’Flesh [I’M irreducibly-undone because] —Quantum Leanage-Complex-Dub (2019)

This installation at the Chisenhale was so compelling. I loved the combination of the slowed down audio with the air circulating through industrial air conditioners

Harrison Pierce

Rebecca Horn – Concert For Anarchy

An all-time favourite. If you ever get to see it do it’s thing it’s hard to forget.


Jónsi – In Bloom

In this piece from Tanyar Bonakdar Gallery, PA loudspeakers are arranged into the form of a poisonous foxglove flower and mounted with chrome butt plugs from which emanates a sonic tapestry of processed field recordings of flora and human fauna. I love the way Jonsi shapes sound freely across sculpture, music and cinema.

Harrison Pierce

For more top tens, see:

My favourite Contemporary Artists using Performance – selected by Rosie Gibbens

Artists working with Themes of Post-vandalism – selected by curator Stephen Burke

My favourite Australian Artists – selected by Jordy Kerwick.


Lucia Ferrari in Conversation with Sarah Forman

Lucia Ferrari

The #LockdownEditions are a Delphian-run initiative to support some of our favourite contemporary artists during these difficult and unprecedented times. Throughout the remainder of the quarantine measures, we will be releasing a new print each week, with all of the profits going directly to the artists themselves. This week, we’re excited to feature our fourth artist, Lucia Ferrari, to talk about pay raises for the NHS and Andy Warhol coming back from the dead.

Sarah Forman: Tell us a bit about yourself and your practice.

Lucia Ferrari: I’m a London based artist and hold a degree from The Slade School of Fine Art at UCL. My work has taken a huge turn given the current climate and being in isolation. It’s forced me to really push boundaries and explore materials I would have previously never thought of using. I’m heavily influenced by my Italian heritage and after living in Venice have since become obsessed with 15th century frescos, like the ones in San Marco. Narrative is the driving force behind my work and often guides where my paintings go. I lay paint onto a surface, see images appear and from these I start filling in what may be a face, a hand, and build the narrative out of that subject. I think my subconscious plays a vital part in that, perhaps. 

SF: Where are you based and how has the current global health crisis affected your day-to-day?

LF: I’m based in North London, literally just on the belt. In terms of the pandemic I’m not working my nine to five. Instead I’ve been lucky enough to dedicate all this time to working in ‘my home studio’. A few months back I cleared out half of the garage…maybe I saw this coming. 

SF: In what ways have you changed how you work and/or what you’re working on?

LF: I think what has changed the most is actually having the time to dedicate myself solely to my practice. It’s proved to me when you can give every day to painting, drawing, you can really improve a lot and consolidate what’s successful or not, learn quickly from what you’ve done. Aside from time, I’ve developed a ‘take risks’ attitude -nobody is really going to see if a painting I do completely falls flat, so I just throw myself into it. I’ve treated this time as if I was on a residency, just in my own house. 

SF: How have you seen your community affected by the current COVID-19 crisis? Inside and outside the art world?

LF: The artistic community has done incredibly well to support one another. I’ve been involved in other group shows that have been setup for the same purpose as Delphian’s initiative. Ultimately everyone is being affected by this crisis, whether it’s being away from loved ones or being away from work, among many other things. It has completely altered our current lifestyle. I just hope after all of this people continue to be selfless. And that NHS workers get a pay raise.

SF: Can you talk to us a little bit about this print and why you chose it?

LF: Narrative is really important to my work and while making the original drawing I was thinking about how our freedom has been stripped away from us, despite it being for the right reasons – protecting our loved ones, our supports. I realised I’d taken for granted how easy it was to see my partner, family and friends. I was also thinking of our liberty more in a dystopian setting, than directly drawing our current crisis. It’s just relevant. 

SF: Do you feel there’s a certain pressure to respond to what’s going on in the world right now? If so, what does that look like?

LF: I think by default if you’re making work now it becomes work you’ve made through isolation, whether you are directly responding to the pandemic or using materials that are readily available to you as a result of having limited resources. The other day I ran out of canvas but I had a full sheet of ply wood, so I’ve just cut that up instead, using oil undercoat that was lying around – and had slightly gone off – to seal the wood. I would never have used this as a surface if we weren’t in these circumstances, but I have to say, it’s great.

SF: Have you seen initiatives taking place that really scare you? Excite you?

LF: It’s not an initiative per se but I did spend a couple of hours the other day going through The National Gallery and Tate virtually. Online exhibitions have provided a really good platform particularly for emerging artists, and the artist support pledge was a little bit of genius, really. I also signed me and my mum up for a MOMA course. After having her run into my room the other day, telling me Andy Warhol was on “This Morning with Holly and Phil”, I figured it was time to intervene…the courses are free and they give you something to do. Yale and Cambridge also have some online free courses as well. 

For More:

Moley Talhaoui in conversation 

Matt Macken in conversation

B.D. Graft in conversation


Delphian Open Call 2020 Winners Announced

The open call this year received an amazing response, and it was an exceptionally tough job whittling down all of the incredible submissions to just 39. With the help of our great judges Kristin Hjellgjerde, Tabish Khan, Henrik Uldalen, Wingshan Smith, and Rhiannon Salisbury, we got have them down to the list below.

The open call this year received an amazing response, and it was an exceptionally tough job whittling down all of the incredible submissions to just 39. With the help of our great judges Kristin Hjellgjerde, Tabish Khan, Henrik Uldalen, Wingshan Smith, and Rhiannon Salisbury, we got have them down to the list below.

If your submission was not successful, please don’t take this to mean that your work wasn’t strong. To cut down the thousands of submissions to the below 39 was incredibly difficult, and we could have created multiple shows out of the submissions received.

We will be announcing the Overall Winner, and the Judges’ Picks soon, but in the meantime, here are our 2020 #DelphianOpenCall winners!

Delphian Open Call Winners 2020

Azadeh Ardalan
Emi Avora
Richard Ayodeji Ikhide
Amy Beager
Rebecca Brodskis
B Chehayeb
Minyoung Choi
Plum Cloutman
Carlo D’Anselmi
Lisa Golightly
Georgia Grinter
Delia D Hamer
Connie Harrison
Lenia Hauser
Indiana Hoover
Ralph Hunter-Menzies
Rich Jones
Juliana Julieta
Hari Katragadda

Thomas Mau
Hazel Miller
Katie Mullender
Adrian Caicedo
Joseph Olisaemeka Wilson
James Owens
Dzvinya Podlyashetska
Delphine Rama
Danny Romeril
AK Sebastian
Tracey Slater
Guus Smeulders
Ege Subaşi
Ammar Syed
Mircea Teleagă
Emeli Theander
Michael Thompson
Anne Torpe
Massimiliano Usai
Diana Zeng

If your name is not on the winners list this time, remember you can still submit works for consideration to be featured on our social media by tagging us in your posts on Instagram and adding the hashtag #DelphianOpenCall


10 artists working with Themes of Post-vandalism – selected by curator Stephen Burke

Olivier Kosta Thefaine@olivierkostathefaine

The use of ‘lighter graffiti’ in Olivier’s work has always caught me as something really intriguing. I love this material exploration and it so evidently relates to real life, a great combination!

post-vandalism

James Earley@james_earley

I was introduced to Earley’s work form a young age through the many murals he has around Dublin. His work plays on his family heritage of stain glass window making which he explores through the formation of abstracted figurative paintings. One of the most interesting artists working in Ireland today!

Post-vandalism

Bram Braam@bram.braam

I had the opportunity to see Bram’s work for the first time in Galerie Burster Berlin. His use of material and structure to convey meaning about the city is really quite nice. I definitely recommend seeing his works in person if you can. 

Bram Braam

Antoine Donzeaud@donzxoxo

Antoine is an artist currently working in Paris, his work examines spatial perception and architecture within the city. His recent series of works which depict broken screens or windows are an interesting gesture towards societal issues.

Post-vandalism

Milosz Odobrovic@milosz_odobrovic

I’ve always liked Odobrovic’s work due to its relationship with graffiti removal. His paintings carry an intriguing tension between censorship, information and resistance.

Post-vandalism

Aches@achesdub

One of the most promising artists coming out of Dublin currently. His debut show in Atelier Maser last year was really brilliant. His work examines and critiques our use of digital technologies through series of sprayed RGB portraits.

Post-vandalism

Keke Vilabelda@keke_vilabelda

Vilabelda’s ‘Materia Transitoria’ is a series of works I really enjoy! He portrays moments of the everyday very honestly.

Post-vandalism

Alexandre Bavard@87mosa87

Bavard’s translation of graffiti into contemporary art is one of the most original and interesting today. His multidisciplinary approach is evident through the many mediums he uses, ranging from dance choreography to clothing. His ‘Bulky’ choreography system is a set of instructions which translates the gestures of tagging into a series of bodily movements. 

Post-vandalism

Sofia Hulten

Hulten’s work manipulates everyday materials in order to encourage the viewer to examine their environment more closely. She focuses on the previous usage of materials to convey notions of time and decay.

Post-vandalism

Ricardo Passaporte@ricardopassaporte

With an air of humour to his work, Passaporte produces paintings and installations which draw attention to the relationship between art and commerce. He utilises bright colour combinations to reference capitalistic and marketable aesthetics often employed by consumer companies. 

Ricardo Passaporte

For more top tens, see:

My favourite Contemporary Artists using Performance – selected by Rosie Gibbens

My favourite Australian Artists – selected by Jordy Kerwick.

For more by Stephen Burke, check out his Instagram account dedicated to artists working in Post-vandalism, click HERE


Oliver Elst – Episode 25 of the Delphian Podcast is now live!

Oliver Elst

In this episode of the Delphian Podcast we speak to the collector and curator Oliver Elst. He is the founder of the Cuperior Collection, which is a collection of works by some of the most exciting emerging and early-career African artists. We discuss how he got into collecting, the rise of online exhibitions during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how this affects the way in which collectors purchase. He also gives us his tips for budding collectors, and tips for artists to get their work noticed. 

Listen now on our website HERE, or search DELPHIAN PODCAST in iTunes, Spotify, or Podbean.

Please don’t forget to Like, Share, and Subscribe!

More from Oliver

His Website


Moley Talhaoui in conversation with Sarah Forman

The #LockdownEditions are a Delphian-run initiative to support some of our favourite contemporary artists during these difficult and unprecedented times. Throughout the remainder of the quarantine measures, we will be releasing a new print each week, with all of the profits going directly to the artists themselves. This week, we’re excited to feature our second artist, Moley Talhaoui, who we spoke to about annual quarantines, social felonies and democratising platforms.

moley talhaoui

To support Moley Talhaoui and artists like him, browse the prints HERE

Sarah: Tell us a bit about yourself and your practice.

Moley Talhaoui: My name is Moley Talhaoui, I’m a painter born and raised in Sweden.

S: Where are you based and how has the current global health crisis affected your day-to-day?

MT: I’m Based in Stockholm. The situation seems to be unique for Sweden, in comparison to the rest of the world. The Swedish health minister and his people have come to the conclusion that full quarantine is overrated and that all the other nations are wrong…so much hasn’t changed if you’re looking at how people move around the city. All places for socialising are closed and we’re not allowed to meet up more with than 50 people at a time. But we usually quarantine from September to April anyway. That’s part of our culture and social distancing is the default. You’re not well assimilated in the north if your impulse is to enter someone’s personal space – invading that is a social felony.

On a more personal level, I’ve had to cancel my next exhibition and there’s not much at present to hold onto on the bumpy road into the unknown future. Luckily for me, my only demand on life is the ability, or freedom really, to do what I do: paint. And that hasn’t changed. I work underground, no windows and no neighbours. I need solitude to fully focus. I’ve had people ask about my lack of access to daylight and how it affects finding the perfect, right color or what not, but Sweden is eight months of no light then four month of the extreme opposite…so I guess you could say I’ve managed to do without it. 

S: In what ways have you changed how you work and/or what you’re working on?

MT: I paint more, maybe a bit more freely. This situation is serious and even if the Swedish authorities may look at it as an overreaction on the part of the rest of the world, I don’t. I guess the concept of mortality has become more vivid, and my will, my motivation amplified as a consequence of all this. I feel a sense of urgency. Life for many, or any, may soon not be a reality anymore. Death is fundamental in my work, or has been the last few years, even though “life” is slowly walking back into the center of my own narrative. 

S: How have you seen your community affected by the current COVID-19 crisis? Inside and outside the art world?

MT: I have no community, but I guess in the same ways that I have. What I have seen from social media is an uprising of more democratic solutions, like online exhibitions and prints, which is good. I think this will maybe loosen up and change the predominant structure leading the industry. The increased speed of digital formats may set up some new rules that could be more beneficial for the majority, rather than for the few. But, I don’t know, something good will hopefully come out of it. Let’s just hope it’s for the ones that need it the most, not so much those already thriving.  

S: Can you talk to us a little bit about this print and why you chose it?

MT: I don’t know, it just somehow matches the time were in, with or without COVID-19. We find so much brilliance in individuals, but as a collective, we’re limited. Humanity is a beautiful thing, don’t get me wrong. Love is real and hate is the same as fear, but none of these feelings exclude stupidity. I say this from a humble place, like, not stupidity as a choice, but just the way we are in our nature. We celebrate life, which is nature, by devouring it. All this around us is meant to be free and for us, yet we like to package it, claim it to be from some imaginary place. Life and nature are free, and all it wants from us is for us to take care of it.   

S: Do you feel there’s a certain pressure to respond to what’s going on in the world right now? If so, what does that look like?

MT: Honestly, I’m not so well read on gallery activity. From what I can see on my Instagram feed, there are some more online exhibitions and things like that, but I’m not sure to what extent that has changed since the pandemic started. It’s not a new idea. The account “workbyfriends”, from what I have seen, is like a solidarity-oriented base for artists to make work easily available and affordable, which is a good thing. Delphian of course with this generous project have stepped up, and Beers London are doing some very interesting physical/virtual exhibitions, like the one with Jan Sebastian and his harmonious paintings.

Yngspc is doing some really interesting projects too.

S: Have you seen initiatives taking place that really scare you? Excite you?

MT: I have not.

To learn more about the artists involved in the project, read Sarah’s conversation with B.D. Graft HERE