Walter & Zoniel x Portraits of Intimate Anonymity x The Crown Estate
British duo Walter & Zoniel bring the series ‘Portraits of Intimate Anonymity’ to the streets of London, a celebration of portraiture, colour and our inner life brought to you by MTArt Agency and The Crown Estate.
Walter & Zoniel have deeply explored the subject of portraiture. From previously creating works out of 24ct gold on giant format cameras and developing processes using the sweat of their subjects’ faces to create photographs, to shooting portraits of islands and of concepts.
This ongoing series sees them delve into a new conceptual facet of portraiture. These stylised W&Z’s photographic works offer a unique intimacy and anonymity to a portrait. Each portrait is thickly overpainted, creating a sculptural incarnation of its subjects, whilst allowing both the subject and the viewer space to inhabit the work with ease.
We are given space to examine, both the subject’s environment and our own natural ‘filling in of the gaps’, our preconceptions and presumptions.
The impasto over-painting is done as an act of empowerment and focus. Empowering living subjects through anonymity and celebrated in block colour. It draws the viewers focus back and forth between the living subject and their environment, allowing them a separation to stand alone and coexist. The anonymity reflects any judgements made by the viewer back into our own minds. Presumptions about sex, race, age etc. are echoed back to us as the pure presumptions that they are.
Our minds naturally look for patterns in order to process all the information that we are constantly absorbing. These patterns that we create are just that, creations of our mind, which sometimes serve us well to process information and sometimes do us a disservice by limiting our beliefs. This work is from an ongoing process developed by Walter & Zoniel, where they use the space that this colourful, sculptural interception creates to look deeper into
our own minds and the lives of others.
Current Projects in London:
Perception, Intimacy & Transcendence – Walter & Zoniel’s solo exhibition:
Perception, Intimacy & Transcendence can be seen in The Room by Turnbull & Asser, 4 Davies Street, Mayfair. It is open from 8th-30th September.
The original Portraits Of Intimate Anonymity can be seen alongside the artists’ latest series Shit Views; Lo’ The Vision Of Choice. Exploring the themes of perception and transformation, both series are realised as forms of conceptual sculptural photography.
An Effort – Residency:
Walter & Zoniel are the inaugural artists in residents for the An Effort art residency, connecting London & Abu Dhabi. The artists will be working in Soho Square from September – November. They will be exploring and realising two new series of works under the mantle of Hidden Nature, ending with a short exhibition of selected works in the Project 13 Gallery.
If you would like to be invited to one of the studio visits, talks, or a tour of the exhibitions with the artists, please contact MTArt Agency.
About Walter & Zoniel:
Walter & Zoniel’s work deals predominantly with the human relationship to the sublime, manifesting in a dynamic range of physical and immersive forms. Through these means, they explore everyday access points to the sublime, and the manner in which we allow or disallow ourselves these experiences. Their studies materialise in works exploring our relationships with nature, the cosmos, the cellular, the social, identity, and awareness.
Through a conceptual and innovative process-based practice they often expand or develop entirely new processes in order to create their artwork. Working in a spectrum of artistic mediums primarily conceptual process photography and large scale installation. These practices often expand to include painting, sculpture and video. Their artwork is at the same time metaphoric, literal and narrative.
Together they explore the subjects of inspiration and our innate connections with each other and with the universe, often using their means of production to narrate a story or exhibit a metaphor. They utilize the surrealist, beautiful and ethereal as mediums. All of their work carries the undercurrent of their optimism and mantra that everything is possible.
Their work weaves their outlooks together uniting their individual takes on the analytical and the ethereal. Their joint energy fuels further creation and their practice in itself acts as a vessel to push the expansion of their understanding. Through their meditative processes of creation, which is often deeply physical, they have developed their own unique techniques that focus upon the cyclic nature of existence, embodying the human condition as much within their process as in their finished artworks. Their work merges experiences from both of their scientific and Buddhist backgrounds driven by a commitment to a deeper exploration of the mind and universe and genuine formats with which they can express.
About MTArt Agency:
MTArt is an award-winning talent and creative agency with B Corp Status. We are the crossroads that connects artistic talent with brands, cultural projects and collectors. We have an array of expertise that we use to make the art world a better place. We are both a leading name in establishing artists and integrating art into the mainstream. For the artists who sign with the agency, MTArt covers studio costs, sells works, implements public art & brand partnerships and offers press exposure.
About The Crown Estate:
Dating back more than 260 years, The Crown Estate is a unique business with a diverse portfolio that stretches across the country. It includes some of London’s best places to work, shop and experience, regional retail and leisure destinations, and a substantial rural portfolio.
