Artist: Sophie von Hellermann

Pilar Corrias presents Moonage, a solo exhibition of new paintings and sculptural objects by Sophie von Hellermann.

For her fourth solo show with the gallery, the artist has transformed the Conduit Street space into an environment that channels the fever of a daydream, where the real becomes remodelled by the subconscious. Von Hellermann has borrowed her title from David Bowie’s track ‘Moonage Daydream’, which introduces Bowie’s character Ziggy Stardust as a means to explore forms of creativity that subvert the status quo. Illuminated by lamps, von Hellermann’s images sweep across every wall and surface, as if a large-scale magic lantern had scattered dreams across the gallery.

As the viewer journeys through a sequence of spaces, a sense of drama unfolds. Lovers are caught in a tryst, ethereal figures surf the constellations, supernatural plantlife glows in the undergrowth, a group gathers for a secret ritual under a full moon. Hanging upon canvas screens, von Hellermann’s ‘Maze’ paintings offer a sense of stepping into – or getting lost within – an image. At the far end of the gallery, the viewer is dwarfed by a canvas installation that symbolises the interval between reverie and reawakening, the opportunity to make a new reality tomorrow.

Sophie von Hellermann’s action paintings are imbued with the rapid workings of her subconscious. Applying pure pigment directly onto unprimed canvas, her use of broadbrushed washes imbues a sense of weightlessness. Von Hellermann’s paintings draw upon current affairs as fluidly as they borrow from classical mythology and literature to create expansive, fantastic places. In subject matter and style, von Hellermann tests imagination against reality.

Sophie von Hellermann (b. 1975, Munich, Germany) lives and works in London and Margate, UK. She received her BFA from Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf and an MFA from Royal College of Art, London. Selected solo exhibitions include: Poisson de Folie, Galerie Sardine, Amagansett, New York, US (2024); Out of Time, Pilar Corrias, London (2022); Schloss Freienwalde, Bad Freienwalde, Germany (2022, commission); A Midsummer Night's Dream, Pilar Corrias, London (2020); and Judgement Day, Chisenhale Gallery, London (2006). Selected group exhibitions include: Wild NM, Centre for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, US (2024); Sirens: Sophie von Hellermann and Anne Ryan, Turner Contemporary, Kent, UK (commission) (2021); Mixing It Up: Painting Today, Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2021); Jahresgaben 2016, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2016); Watercolour, Tate Britain, London (2011); and Dear Painter, paint me..., Pompidou Centre, Paris (2002).