Klára Hosenedlová, Untitled (from Ponytail Parlour), 2018. 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, London.
Five female-identifying artists are highlighted below as features of the Phillips’ 20th Century and Contemporary Art Day Sale and New Now Sale in October and December respectively. Provided from the collection of Serge Tiroche, the works demonstrate a breadth of style and medium that coalesce here in aiding the promotion of contemporary African art. Having founded Africa First in 2017, Tiroche has continued to champion contemporary art from the continent. As each artwork is unique in its ability to enthrall the viewer and speak to the artists’ varied backgrounds, they share a common impetus. In addition to the works by Klára Hosnedlová and Bharti Kher to be offered in the 20th Century and Contemporary Art Day Sale on the 12th of October, further works from the Serge Tiroche Collection by Misyuta Aksiniya, Modupeola Fadugba, Chitra Ganesh, David Kim Whittaker, Jumana Manna, Gizela Mickiewicz, Roey Victoria Heifetz, Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze, and Zadie Xa will be offered to benefit Africa First in our forthcoming New Now Sale on the 5th of December.
Roey Victoria Heifetz
Roey Victoria Heifetz, Trio, 2011. New Now London.
Estimate: £7,000–9,000.
Roey Victoria Heifetz’s large-scale drawings typically deal with the drastic discrepancies between the social expectations and physical reality of ageing through womanhood. Self-identifying as a trans-woman, her poised inquisition of modern femininity is rendered in monumental and unglamorous terms. Her works explore the psychological and emotional journey that many women are expected to endure throughout their lives. Heifetz was born near Tel-Aviv but now resides in Berlin and often takes the women she meets or sees on the street as a starting point for her practice.
In 2019 Roey Victoria Heifetz has exhibited at Third Body at Tel Aviv Artist House as well as Shabees Goy, a group exhibition at Jüdische-Kulturtage, Düsseldorf. In addition, Heifetz was the featured artist for the Israeli pavilion at the Venice Biennale with her work Block of Clay. She was the 2018 Winner of Ann and Ari Rosenblatt Prize for Visual Artist as well as the 2019 grant recipient for the Lottery Foundation, Mifal Hapis in Israel.
Zadie Xa
Zadie Xa, Orca, 2019. New Now London.
Estimate: £10,000–15,000.
Zadie Xa’s practice combines many cultural reference points which she draws from her Korean and native Canadian heritage. These include street style, music videos, quilting techniques and traditional clothing. Much of Xa’s work is preoccupied with using water and marine ecologies to explore the fantastical while also considering themes of homeland. In Orca, many of these influences converge to create a work that reels with cultural relevance. The bright and playful colours call to mind the burgeoning pop-culture scene in Korea, while the hanging feather-like strings and Orca motifs are indicative of indigenous-Canadian clothing and mythology.
Xa’s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions at numerous galleries in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including Serpentine Gallery in London, UK (2016); Palais de Tokyo, in Paris, France (2018); Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver, British Columbia (2021); and Remai Modern in Saskatchewan, Canada (2020–2021), among others.
“If we have some knowledge bestowed upon us, it’s selfish to not share that with each other.”
—Zadie Xa
Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze
Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze, Dangerous [Alien] Women, 2015. New Now London.
Estimate: £10,000–15,000.
Existing in a multi-geographic space, Dangerous [Alien] Women, is a prime example of Onyinyechi Amanze’s continued exploration of cultural hybridity. Her work confidently tackles the rebuke that women of color experience as products of cultural displacement. It is therefore aligned with Heifetz’s work, as it emboldens the lived experience of women throughout our histories and today. Employing found images, Onyinyechi Amanze evolves her preferred medium of drawing and utilises the loaded symbolism condensed into single motifs. Her work conveys cultural displacement, anxiety, and identity, inspired by her “pieced-together memories” of Nigeria.
Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze has continued to exhibit in solo shows in the USA, South Africa and the UK. Some of which include there are even moonbeams we can unfold (2018) at Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa; Astroturf rooftop picnics (2015) at Morgan Lehman Gallery, New York, NY and a story. in parts. (2015) at Tiwani Contemporary, London, UK.
Klára Hosenedlová
Klára Hosenedlová, Untitled (from Ponytail Parlour), 2018. 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, London.
Estimate: £8,000–12,000.
Using a traditionally feminine and domestic medium in Untitled (from Ponytail Parlour), Hosnedlová skilfully renders undulating textures of material and skin and demonstrate an acutely masterful approach to the medium. The present work was originally conceptualized as part of a site-specific presentation at the National Theatre of Prague in 2018, titled “Ponytail Parlour.” Theatre costumes and design were carefully selected and installed to complement the intricately framed embroideries. The theatre’s cloakroom was thus transformed into a uniquely feminine performance space.
Hosnedlová exhibited her first institutional solo show To Infinity earlier this year, between March and June at Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover. Her work has also been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions including the 16th Lyon Biennale, France (2022); X Museum, Beijing (2022); Art Basel Parcours, Basel (2021); Baltic Triennial 14, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius (2021). Hosnedlová additionally has forthcoming solo exhibitions at Kunsthalle Basel and White Cube, London in 2024 and 2025.
Bharti Kher
Bharti Kher, Make up (as you go along), 2010. 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, London.
Estimate: £60,000–80,000.
Make up (as you go along) is a testament to Bharti Kher’s ability to allow found objects to exchange between the magical and the everyday. Kher uses varied mediums to load commonplace items with symbolic meanings. In this instance a make-up dresser is reconsidered away from its original function, as a tool for cosmetic pursuits, and adorned with colourful binds to invoke spiritual guidance and meditation. Kher has often aimed to occupy a creative space that rests between geographic and social milieus. Utilizing social and cultural motifs not only achieves this, but additionally bestows her work with an uncanny mysticism.
“If I break a mirror, this is my act of punk. When you break something, you free it from itself.” —Bharti Kher
Bharti Kher’s most recent solo exhibition, The Body is a Place, was held at the Arnolfini, Bristol in 2022-2023. She has also had notable solo exhibitions at Galerie Perrotin, New York (2020); Hauser & Wirth, Somerset (2019) and the Museum Frieder Burda, Berlin (2017). Kher’s work is held in collections at the Tate Modern, London and The Vancouver Art Gallery.
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