I am excited to announce that Phoebe Boddy (b. 1995, UK), one of the emerging artists I highlighted in the July article, “My Top Picks from The Other Art Fair” is one of three artists selected to participate in an exhibition at Mall Galleries in central London.
Earlier this summer, Boddy’s figurative painting, Big Fish, Little Fish was one of the selected artworks to be included in Figurative Art Now, a virtual group exhibition of over 400 artworks at Mall Galleries. The show celebrates contemporary representational painting, drawing, sculpture, and printmaking in the UK today and is available until the 20th of September. A distinguished panel of judges which included artists, curators and gallerists, had to choose the top prize winner to award a solo exhibition at Mall Galleries from among the artists participating in Figurative Art Now. But with such a large pool of high-quality work to pick from, they chose three winners instead. Boddy along with, Zara Matthews and Thomas Allen have been selected as the top winners. The judges decided to offer the prize of a show to all three, making it less of a solo show and more of a showcase of the breadth of figurative painting being produced in Britain today. The exhibition is scheduled to take place early next year at Mall Galleries, the national focal point for contemporary figurative art, and home to the Federation of British Artists, a registered charity.
Boddy's winning piece, Big Fish, Little Fish was inspired by words written in her journal: "Sometimes there are days where I literally have zero confidence in my work and my ideas, I think of myself as having a brain like a fish. I refer to these days as brain-like-fish days. But then other days I have these ideas that rush adrenaline through my body and I can almost feel myself vibrate with excitement.” It is precisely this excitement that transfers onto the canvas through energized brushstrokes infused with bold color and form which make her art so alluring.
Boddy’s practice is stimulated by food and flavor. She uses the process of painting to explore the connections between the two creative fields of Food and Art. Storing personal recollections and experiences that she has encountered with food, and recreating these memories in the studio through interpretative painting. Boddy has a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Loughborough University and has exhibited in the UK. She lives and works in London.
Make sure to check out Boddy's winning piece at the Figurative Art Now exhibition here, which has artworks for sale, with prices starting at £500. And of course, don’t forget to visit Boddy's website here and follow her on Instagram @phoebeboddyartist here, to stay up to date with her work!