‘There should be more art shows in chapels’ quips the caption on one of Italian artist Bea Bonafini’s recent Instagram posts of the Fitzrovia Chapel in London. With her solo show ‘Dovetail’s Nest’ at the Zabludowicz Collection, she’s done just that – transforming the museum’s Methodist chapel into a non-religious ‘quasi-domestic’ space to explore her own complex relationship with religious iconography.
‘You realise that it’s brainwashing,’ Bonafini explains of the intensely violent scenes found in churches. ‘In “Dovetail’s Nest”, I wanted to create links both to sacred and domestic spaces.’ Bonafini questions the “brainwashing” elements of the church with an installation made up of objects – a huge handmade carpet and an altarpiece – in the girlish pastel colours of pink, blue and purple.
The rug is inspired in equal measure by ‘carpet in British homes’ and ‘the inlaid marble battle scenes on the Siena Cathedral floor’. It takes up the entire floor space and is met at its furthest end with Bonafini’s own version of a 25ft painted altarpiece, covered in prints and bright colours.
Detail of Bea Bonafini’s handmade carpet
Her predilection for everyday objects feminised through pastel colours and patterns partly nod to French-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle, a source of inspiration for Bonafini. This artistic kitsch is becoming her trademark, recent works including the pink plaster, wood dye and salt dough canvas Poked Peach & Georgian Mouths (2016), have seen Bonafini savouring the subversive.
‘I like to think of myself as a promiscuous artist,’ she tells us, ‘I like being surprised by my work and this project has surprised me.’ When she received the commission from the Zabludowiz Collection, as part of its Invites series, Bonafini instantly thought back to the small chapels often found on the side of buildings in Italy where she grew up and were both austere and compelling.
She adds: ‘This chapel intends to create a world of its own, a world that asks something of you the moment you walk in.’ Which in this case, is to make yourself at home.
Bonafini has transformed the museum’s Methodist chapel into a non-religious ‘quasi-domestic’ space
She explores her own complex relationship with religious iconography
Bonafini says she ‘wanted to create links both to sacred and domestic spaces’
INFORMATION
‘Dovetail’s Nest’ is on view until 9 July. For more information, visit the Zabludowicz Collection website
ADDRESS
Zabludowicz Collection
176 Prince of Wales Road
London NW5 3PT
-
Aesop’s Salone del Mobile 2024 installations in Milan are multisensory experiencesAesop has partnered with Salone del Mobile to launch a series of installations across Milan, tapping into sight, touch, taste, and scent
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternativesFrom the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
-
Berlinde De Bruyckere’s angels without faces touch down in Venice churchBelgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere’s recent archangel sculptures occupy the 16th-century white marble Abbazia di San Giorgio Maggiore for the Venice Biennale 2024
-
Yinka Shonibare considers the tangled relationship between Africa and Europe at Serpentine SouthYinka Shonibare‘s ‘Suspended States’ at Serpentine South, London, considers history, refuge and humanitarian support (until 1 September 2024)
-
Gavin Turk subverts still-life painting and says: ‘We are what we throw away’Gavin Turk considers wasteful consumer culture in ‘The Conspiracy of Blindness’ at Ben Brown Fine Arts, London
-
Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: Bloomsbury’s untold story‘Dorothy Hepworth and Patricia Preece: An Untold Story’ is a new exhibition at Charleston in Lewes, UK, that charts the duo's creative legacy
-
Don’t miss: Thea Djordjadze’s site-specific sculptures in LondonThea Djordjadze’s ‘framing yours making mine’ at Sprüth Magers, London, is an exercise in restraint
-
‘Accordion Fields’ at Lisson Gallery unites painters inspired by London‘Accordian Fields’ at Lisson Gallery is a group show looking at painting linked to London
-
Fetishism, violence and desire: Alexis Hunter in London‘Alexis Hunter: 10 Seconds’ at London's Richard Saltoun Gallery focuses on the artist’s work from the 1970s, disrupting sexual stereotypes
-
Wayne McGregor’s new work merges genetic code, AI and choreographyCompany Wayne McGregor has collaborated with Google Arts & Culture Lab on a series of works, ‘Autobiography (v95 and v96)’, at Sadler’s Wells (12 – 13 March 2024)
-
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley confronts gaming, VR and rebirth at Studio VoltaireDanielle Brathwaite-Shirley has opened her first institutional solo exhibition, ‘THE REBIRTHING ROOM’, at Studio Voltaire, London
