Simone Kennedy Doig & Antonia Showering

Baert Gallery, working in association with Louis Blanc-Francard, the London-based curator of this exhibition, are delighted to present a show bringing together the work of two young and highly talented London based artists – Simone Kennedy-Doig and Antonia Showering. Recent graduates from the Slade School of Fine Art, this is the first time these artists have been paired together and it is also the first time their work is on show in America.

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In their vibrant, multi layered painting the two artists confront similar subjects of belonging, reflection and memory resulting from their personal relationships with people and places. Viewed from the fresh perspective of Los Angeles, the exhibition vividly demonstrates both their experimental approach as well as their conceptual and technical prowess.

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Kennedy-Doig spent the early part of this year in Trinidad, where she grew up, and since returning to the United Kingdom has been working on the paintings for this exhibition. Inspired by the atmosphere and scenes of the lively East London neighborhood where she lives, the paintings are richly colored and clearly reflect her hybrid British and Trinidadian identity. 

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Showering’s paintings capture the ephemeral sense of memory in heavily layered narratives that often depict family members and lovers. The mountainous landscapes inhabited by these figures evoke the Swiss region that is part her personal heritage. Using the technique of pentimento in vibrant hues of oranges, yellows, greens and reds, she aims to represent the emotional memory of the sentimentally important figures in her life. Although her characters rarely dominate the outdoor landscape, Showering explores the idea of place and memory where people are closely associated, like intertwined with the natural world.

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Both Kennedy-Doig and Showering use the medium of paint to express and reflect their multicultural backgrounds. Their ability to merge elements from a multitude of experiences and familiar places opens up a new territory that allows the viewer to gain an insight into both their worlds.

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Simone Kennedy Doig (born 1994, London) lives and works between London and Trinidad. After moving to Trinidad in 2002, she returned to London in 2012 to do a foundation year at Central Saint Martins, followed by a degree in Fine Art at the Slade School of Fine Art (2017). In 2015 she did an exchange at the Academy of Fine Art in Vienna. Recent exhibitions include The Lore of the Land curated by David Harrison at Churchgate Gallery in Somerset (2018), December 1980 at Asylum Studios in Suffolk (2018), Grundlos Kollektiv in Port of Spain (2018), Slade School of Fine Art Degree Show in London (2017) and La Diablesse at 15f Micawber Street in London (2017).

Antonia Showering (born 1991, London), lives and works in London. She graduated with a MFA from the Slade School of Art in 2018 and a BA (Hons) from City and Guilds of London Art School in 2016. Selected exhibitions include Bloomberg New Contemporaries in Liverpool and London, South London Gallery (upcoming), New 'Bad' Painting, V1 Gallery in Copenhagen (2018), The present is already gone at Chalton Gallery in London (2018), Mark Shand's Adventures and Curiosities at Hauser and Wirth in London (2018), Art, Women and The Evolution at The Bloomsbury in London (2018) and Great Women Artists at Mother in London (2017).