Muse
18 February - 10 April 2022
General Public, Free Admission, Monday to Friday, 10AM - 5PM or by appointment (contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
Muse, installation view, ROSL Clubhouse, London
Sunil Gupta | Kim Leutwyler | Pixy Liao | Nilupa Yasmin | The Estate of Francis Bacon | Dina Razin
The Royal Over-Seas League is proud to present an exhibition of inspiration.
The perception of the muse is that of a passive, powerless model, at the mercy of an influential and older artist. But is this trope a romanticised myth? Far from posing silently, muses have brought emotional support, intellectual energy, career-changing creativity and practical help to artists.
© The Estate of Francis Bacon. All rights reserved / DACS 2022. Photo: John Deakin. Collection: The Estate of Francis Bacon
Muse, installation view, ROSL Clubhouse, London
Sunil Gupta, Untitled #11 (2008) from the series the New Pre-Raphaelites, archival inkjet print, 106.7 x 71.1cm - Image courtesy of the artist and Hales, London and New York © Sunil Gupta. All rights reserved. DACS 2022
Sunil Gupta, Untitled #13 (2008) from the series the New Pre-Raphaelites, archival inkjet print, 70.9 x 106.7cm - Image courtesy of the artist and Hales, London and New York © Sunil Gupta. All rights reserved. DACS 2022
Sunil Gupta, Untitled #7 (2008) from the series the New Pre-Raphaelites, archival inkjet print, 70.9 x 106.7cm - Image courtesy of the artist and Hales, London and New York © Sunil Gupta. All rights reserved. DACS 2022
Inspired by the rich subject matter and examples cited in forthcoming book Muse by Ruth Millington (Vintage Publishing, available from 07/04/22). Muse: The Exhibition displays work by international contemporary artists Sunil Gupta, Kim Leutwyler, Pixy Liao and Nilupa Yasmin alongside contextual work loaned from The Estate of Francis Bacon and a print portfolio of book illustrations from Dina Razin - available for purchase here.
Muse, installation view, ROSL Clubhouse, London
Pixy Liao, Mind-control is a woman’s essential skill (2010) from the series Experimental Relationship (2007 - now), digital c-print, 49.9 x 37.4cm - Image courtesy of the artist
Pixy Liao, Home-made Sushi (2010) from the series Experimental Relationship (2007 - now), digital c-print, 37.4 x 49.9cm - Image courtesy of the artist
Muse: The Exhibition introduces Faustina Agolley, George Dyer, LGBTQ+ rights activists in India, Moro (the Japanese boyfriend presented as sushi), the communities of Foleshill Road, Coventry, as well as beautifully rendered depictions of Beyoncé, Dora Maar, Frida Kahlo, Lawrence Alloway, Souleo and Tilda Swinton by Lisbon-based illustrator Dina Razin taken directly from the pages of the book. Delving into the real-life relationships that models have held with the artists who immortalised them, it will expose the influential and active part they have played and deconstruct reductive stereotypes, reframing the muse as a momentous and empowered agent of art history.
Muse, installation view, ROSL Clubhouse, London
Nilupa Yasmin, Baiyn - বা য়ন (2016), handwoven photograph, 100 x 210cm
Nilupa Yasmin, Baiyn - বা য়ন (detail, 2016), handwoven photograph, 100 x 210cm
Nilupa Yasmin, Self-portraits from the series Grow me a Waterlily আমা র জন্য একটি শা পলা পরি চর্যা কর (2017), digital print, 42 x 59.4cm - Images courtesy of the artist
Muse, installation view, ROSL Clubhouse, London
Kim Leutwyler, Agolley (2020), digital print on aluminium panel, 80 x 80cm - Image courtesy of the artist
Kim Leutwyler, Faustina the Fuzz (2019), digital print on aluminium panel, 80 x 80cm - Image courtesy of the artist
Muse: The Exhibition is in partnership with Square Peg, Vintage Publishing and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
OPENING TIMES: General public, Free Admission, Monday to Friday, 10AM - 5PM or by appointment (contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)
A series of talks and events accompany this exhibition:
Thursday 17 March 2022, 6.30 – 8PM: Life Drawing and Q&A with Sue Tilley, Lucian Freud’s muse
Thursday 31 March 2022, 6.30 – 8PM: Sotheby's Institute of Art Panel Discussion, Does the Artist’s Muse Have a Place in the Modern World?
Thursday 7 April 2022, 6.30 – 8PM: Art Talk, Muse by Ruth Millington + Book Launch
Muse by Ruth Millington (Vintage Publishing, 07/04/22) is available for pre-order now.
Current Exhibitions
