This exhibition brings together recent drawings, paintings, and sculptures by the artists David Hodgson and Helene Fesenmaier, many on display for the first time.The married couple worked alongside one another in a shared studio for over twenty years until Fesenmeier passed away earlier this year. On display Fesenmaier's later work, which were made after being diagnosed with cancer, are based on the life of saints and on the frailty of life itself. She explored this idea through drawings, paintings, and sculptures. The results are direct and mysterious with an affinity to her experiences of endurance and suffering. Hodgson, on the other hand, will present two distinct styles of work and subject matter: large scale expressive paintings of figurative subjects; and works on paper from his Magnus Opus Series, based on ancient maps.
Helene Fesenmaier was a leading artist of referential abstraction. Her work is represented in public and private collections worldwide, including the Museums of Modern Art in New York and San Francisco, the Arts Council in Britain and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. She is a graduate of Smith College, Northampton and the Yale University School of Art. She is a founder member of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture. Her work has also enlivened many prominent London spaces. Her large sculpture Logbook was commissioned by the V & A and stood outside the main entrance of the museum during their exhibition The Open and Closed Book.