Athens-based artist Sofia Stevi presents six ink drawings at Alma Zevi in Venice, in a solo exhibition titled The Somnambulists. Made in 2018 using Japanese ink on cotton — a signature technique for the artist — the works have the human body as their main theme, focusing on nude male and female torsos.
Using the artist herself, her boyfriend and magazine photos as models, the drawings offer an almost classical take on the human form when compared to Stevi’s previous work, which includes oneiric and fragmented compositions that imaginatively blend human body parts, plants, furniture, vegetables and other objects.
According to the artist’s statement included in the exhibition’s press release, these drawings were created when she was taking breaks from painting larger works in colour, hence their monochromatic, black palette. Still imbued with the fantastical storytelling Stevi’s work is so full of, this body of work is at the same time more sombre and calmer, like more calculated and devoted gazes into the intimate world of familiar bodies.
Sofia Stevi, Bodily Form, 2018. Japanese ink on cotton mounted on wood. 92 x 69.5 cm. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, Bodily Form, 2018. Japanese ink on cotton mounted on wood. 92 x 69.5 cm. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, Bodily Form, 2018. Japanese ink on cotton mounted on wood. 92 x 69.5 cm. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, Bodily Form, 2018. Japanese ink on cotton mounted on wood. 92 x 69.5 cm. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, Bodily Form, 2018. Japanese ink on cotton mounted on wood. 92 x 69.5 cm. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, Bodily Form, 2018. Japanese ink on cotton mounted on wood. 92 x 69.5 cm. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, The Sonnambulists, installation view. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, The Sonnambulists, installation view. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, The Sonnambulists, installation view. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, The Sonnambulists, installation view. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.Sofia Stevi, The Sonnambulists, installation view. Photo by Enrico Fiorese. Courtesy the artist and ALMA ZEVI.
Info Sofia Stevi: The Somnambulists
16 April - 31 July 2021
ALMA ZEVI Venice
San Marco 3208, Salizzada Malipiero, 30124 Venice, Italy
+39 041 5209197
info@almazevi.com
Mon-Sat 10:00-18:00
