The Power of the Modern Portrait:
We all know about the power and popularity of the abstract genre, but portraiture is a rising theme in the contemporary art world, with consumers seeking a new kind of figurative art – often these are artworks telling a story about the character portrayed, or else works actively blend into other genres, including surrealism, hyper-realism, and also into abstraction itself.
From Ancient Rome to Instagram:
This, you may say, is a world where anything goes? But the new wave of figurative and portrait paintings have come a long way from their origins. The portrayal, as well as the technique is a selective creative process, fulfilling contemporary desires. No longer the preserve of wealthy aristocrats – as portraits were from the time of the Renaissance (and earlier, stretching back through the Roman Empire and to early Egypt) the modern portrayal of the human figure is less specific, more whimsical, representative yet ethereal – appealing to our sense of aesthetic rather than a desire for self-promotion and representation. A refreshing concept in the age of social media, you may also say!
Figurative and Portrait Art at Fresh: Art Fair 2025
At Fresh: we’re always delighted to have a selection of wonderfully painted, original, and unique figurative works by professional artists. Each fair brings a new and changing offering and the Alexandra Palace fair his month is no exception. Three artists stand out from the crowd, including Sophie Derrick at Arkley Fine Art Kate Hyland at Ashburn Creative Adventures and Steven Lindsay at Lime Tree Gallery.
Captivating Humanity:
The fascination with humans, humanity, and being human continues to draw the gaze when it comes to portraits and figurative art. The viewer demands more – something navigable, yet accessible. And in a world of throwaway imagery, we also long for that which has endurance – a permanent and lasting impression, an expression of the soul, or merely a representation of the external? We believe that only the power of ART can provide the full range personal and unique experiences. But is it your reality, or mine? It is within your power to decide when purchasing an artwork that speaks to you personally.
From the bold and bright brushstrokes in works by Sophie Derrick – the ultimate contemporary portrait – to the subtle modulation of light, shade, and form in Kate Hyland’s wonderful enigmatic pieces, to the story-telling style epitomized by Steven Lindsay, the power of the human form is expressed in a variety of techniques, styles, and methods unique to each artist.
Steven Lindsay:
Steven Lindsay has exhibited with Lime Tree Gallery at Fresh: since 2017, gaining a popularity and following with fair-goers up to the present day. A graduate of Glasgow school of Art in 1985, Steven had a successful career in the music industry, returning to painting in 2010. He has exhibited with the Lime Tree Gallery since that time in the UK, USA, and Asia gaining critical acclaim for his enigmatic subjects. Estelle Lovatt, the art critic featured on the New Radio 2 Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman described his work as “like revisiting Vermeer in the Dutch Golden Age of painterly skill against the Colour Field of Rothko, all intertwined with an aesthetic twist of contemporary, complex-simplicity. Lindsay using his paintbrush eloquently, capturing painterly conversations between the art history giants of a bygone age and a bygone art.” (Quote courtesy of the Lime Tree Gallery.)
Kate Hyland:
Graduating with a BA (Hons) Fine art Falmouth University 2006, Kate Hyland became a full time artist from around 2010. She had lessons with Robert Lenkiewicz as a teenager, which may have influenced her dark colour palette. Originally selling studio work and working on private commissions, Kate is inspired by the old masters. She says “I am a painter of people; my portraits and figurative paintings are as much about capturing the inner world of a person as a likeness. I paint myself, other artists, friends, family and anyone in my life who I can persuade to sit for me.. Often caught in a moment of contemplation and thought, my painted subjects are emotional reflections of the psyche. A gentle and compassionate perspective of what it is to be human.”
Find Kate Hyland’s work with Ashburn Creative Adventures at Fresh: Art Fair / Alexandra Palace from Jan 31st 2025.
Sophie Derrick:
Sophie Derrick is at the cutting edge of contemporary portraiture, using herself as the main subject, and photography as the basis of her expressive, colourful art, her rise to popularity is not unwarranted. Her agents at Arkley Fine Art (Hitchin, Hertfordshire) describe her conceptual and visceral works as “Exploiting the transformative and alchemic properties of painting, photography and sculpture.” They go on to add: “she pushes out the ‘self’ resulting in a ‘self-less’ state. Through her practice, Derrick blanks out and departs from herself, transcending the artist, the woman, becoming ‘agender’ with the single motive of demonstrating the possibility of reaching a place where we too can be ‘other’. Using her skin as the canvas, Impasto paint is placed sculpturally onto her face, before being rendered flat through digital photography, the image is then re-animated, by thick lashings of paint being applied heavily across the mounted surface.
Sophie Derrick’s practice is founded on self-portraiture, but her blending of sculptural painting and performative photography, successfully transcends any traditional interpretation.”
Portraiture in Action:
We are also delighted to be joined at the fair by Sarah Rutherford, a portrait artist from South London. Sarah studied at Chelsea College of Arts in London, and then later at London College of Printing. Sarah has always been drawn towards the more traditional Dutch Masters and figurative work. She works in both pencil and oils and enjoys both personal projects that explore the figurative art form as well as taking commissions.
Sarah will be demonstrating throughout the fair in studio 1.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the human face. There is something like 2000 expressions we learn as kids, in faces that we use to decode. To capture an expression, a feeling, a mood and meaning from someone, its a complex thing. And in portraiture I’m trying to find that. Its about trying to capture someone in a way that is multi-layered and nuanced.”
