Exhibition
STELLA VINE - WE'RE IN IT FOR THE MONEY - Sartorial Contemporary Art
STELLA VINE - WE'RE IN IT FOR THE MONEY
9th September – 24th September 2010 (open by appointment only)
With a personal history as colourful as her paintings Stella Vine has been catapulted to the forefront of the public's art consciousness in recent years. Due in part to her involvement with Charles Saatchi's New Blood Exhibition 2004 and also the controversy much of her work is mired in. Vine occupies something of a perilous pedestal, hailed by some as the future of British painting but strongly reproached by others. For example David Lee, editor of The Jackdaw Magazine, Lee claimed of Vine's work. “Everything about it stinks” Numerous articles claim that critics are divided as to whether or not Vine can actually paint. This doesn't seem to have dampened public opinion, quite the opposite. The apparent naivety of her broad brushstrokes, drips and splashes have captivated the contemporary art market. The slogan adorning one piece, Goltzschtalbrucke part 2 (2003), exhibited at Modern Art Oxford in the summer of 2007 read “we are unhappy with this life and seek another one”. It's this sentiment that saturates much of the artist's work. The phenomena of striving for a better lot in life, low-rent celebrity, a growing army of celebrated public figures with very little in the way of discernable talent are favourite subjects of the artist. More callous commentators might even go so far as to suggest that Vine herself fulfills all the criteria she seeks in her subjects. From September 9th to September 24th visitors to the Sartorial Contemporary Art Gallery will have the chance to gauge Vine's much talked about works for themselves, in this never-before-exhibited collection. Gretta Sarfaty, artist and founder of the Sartorial Contemporary Art Gallery has enjoyed something of a patchy relationship with Vine. In It for the Money (2005), Vine's tip-of-the-hat (or should that be rude hand gesture?) to Tracey Emin's I've Got It All (2000), was painted following a clash of principals between Sarfaty and Vine. Despite not always seeing eye to eye, Sarfaty has amassed an impressive collection of Vine's works. And has decided now is the time to unleash these virtually unseen examples of Vine's uniquely visceral perspective on the general public.
