MISS VAN

Dorothy Circus Gallery, London, UK

From April the 15th to May the 15th

Dorothy Circus Gallery London is proud to present to its public the solo show Pale Moonlight Muses, by the renowned Street Artist Miss Van. The exhibition features a brand new series of oil paintings and drawings by the artist and will open from 15 April 2021 until 15 May 2021.

Straddling the prohibited atmospheres of Moulin Rouge and Botticelli‘s renaissance beauties, Miss Van’s subjects carry the visitor through a long voyage of the senses. The artist focuses once again on the female figure, each portrayed in different costumes.

Similar to her fellow artists SANER and Afarin Sajedi, Miss Van creates characters that lead us into an animalistic decorated with flashy headwear and costumes, inviting us to a folkloristic rendez-vouz with the same individuals that she encountered and have influenced her during her travels. Like in Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels, Miss Van pays tribute to the cultural stimuli assimilated during her journeys, re-interpreting them through a personal and female framework.

Miss Van, Pale Moonlight Muses, Dorothy Circus Gallery, London — Pale Moonlight Muse V, 2020, Oil on Canvas, 66 x 50 cm

The viewer sees Miss Van’s women as independent, fearless, almost bold, in their nudity and the primitivism of the costumes, reminding us of the Caribbean atmospheres of Paul Gauguin’s exotic women.

Characterised by soft curves, porcelain skin, and long cascading hair over sinuous bodies, the women portrayed in the Moonlight Pale Muses series speak of Miss Van’s battle against the status quo. The artist asserts a strong sense of emancipation, accepting one’s own body, and challenging the establishment. While the iconography of Miss Van’s muses reminds us of the Pictorialism of the young Pietro da Cortona, especially his cycle of Santa Bibiana, they are also able recall the more recent, violent fights for women’s rights, with a strong reference to the art of Frida Kahlo and Tamara De Lempicka.

Miss Van’s female figures are characterised by a profound aesthetic tied to costume history and a sensibility able to assimilate a pletora of cultures; they symbolically depict the independent woman that travels, that moves and challenges us with her presence. The new series of Muses, depicted by the intense brushstrokes of this Wandering Artist, will lead the viewer through a provocative journey that challenges all assumptions.

Vanessa Alice, alias Miss Van, was born in 1973 in Toulouse, France. She is a graffiti and street artist now based in Barcelona. Miss Van started painting on the streets of her hometown at the age of 20 and her images have always shown an odd inclination towards the female dimension, where the characters are special muses with animal traits, unique in their genre. Miss Van mixes both graffiti art and fine art painting to create a borderless world.

The fanciful, typically slit-eyed women are portrayed in various forms and colours to evoke a variety of emotions and intimate fantasies. These are surrounded by a dreamy aura, a vintage atmosphere filled with natural elements and flowery fragrances that blend in the wavy hair and soft furs, creating the most sensual of the sceneries.

Miss Van’s timeless and elaborate compositions reveal a delicate and raw element where the bodies of the female characters softly unveil their curves. In her work, we can find references to Frida Kahlo and Tamara De Lempicka, with a strong inspiration from vintage erotic photographs, Gitane costumes, and tribal culture elements.