The Small Things / From the Lowest Land unites the works of London-based multidisciplinary artist Anousha Payne (b. 1991) and Danish sculptor Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (1911-1984). Mancoba, a central figure in Danish art history and modernism, is widely recognized for her affiliations with Linien and her contributions to Høstudstillingen and CoBrA. In this exhibition, Payne’s immersive installations will enter into dialogue with rarely seen sculptures by Mancoba, presented in collaboration with the Sonja Ferlov Mancoba Estate.
In The Small Things / From the Lowest Land, Anousha Payne’s artistic practice engages in a rich dialogue with Macoba’s sculptural and drawing works. Both artists embrace a diverse range of mediums—Payne incorporating painting and ceramics—interweaving these forms to explore profound themes such as the human pursuit of spirituality, the nuances of language, and the universality of the human experience.
Anousha Payne (b. 1991 in Southampton, UK.) graduated from Camberwell College of Arts with a BFA in 2014. Her work has been exhibited across Europe, the UK and USA. Recent solo and group exhibitions include A faint glow, a stone and a sharks tooth, Sperling Gallery Munich(2024); Isabella Ducrot, Laila Tara H, Anousha Payne, Super Super Markt, Berlin(2023); Material Art fair, Deli Gallery, Mexico City (2023); Potheads, Swivel Gallery, New York(2023); Stronger than language, Romero Paprock (2022); Thick mud, slowly oozing, Stellarhighway,New York (2022, solo); I take what is mine, Arusha Gallery, New York (2022); It is better to be cats than be loved, Tabula Rasa, London (2022); A Midsummer Nights Dream, Alkinois, Athens (2022);Tangled toes twisted ears, Public Gallery, London (2022), among others. The artist lives and works in London.
Sonja Ferlov Mancoba (b. 1911 in Copenhagen, Denmark, d. 1984 in Paris, France) was one of the most distinctive and significant Scandinavian sculptors of the 20th century. Together with many fellow artists of her generation, she followed the leading international art trends during the 1930s – in particular Surrealism. Their contributions laid the groundwork for a unique abstract art in Denmark, and towards the end of the decade engendered the growth of an expressionistic spontaneous abstract painting, which later formed the basis of the pan-European CoBrA movement. At the same time there was a strong tendency towards a concrete and constructivist art form in post-war Danish art, which also had its roots in the art of the 30s. It was precisely in the borderline between these mutually opposing movements that Sonja Ferlov Mancoba carried out her artistic endeavours.
Artists: Anousha Payne, Sonja Ferlov Mancoba