City Blues, 2024
Acrylic paint, canvas and wood
65 x 120 x 16 cm

Manon Steyaert is a French-British artist based in London, UK. Her creative process is intuitive and
process driven, led by the intrinsic qualities of her material, she drapes them onto structures, often
treating the work as fabric. This action of draping brings Steyaert into an almost trance like state of
mind, focusing on the illusionistic elements of folds and undulations, almost dressing the structure,
connoting elements of covering and uncovering of the body.

“City Blues” is a work of exploration in the surrounding colours of the area, bringing curiosity to the
viewer’s gaze. The painted canvas protrudes out of the wall, in turn invading the space by creating
loops and folds, mimicking a painting bursting out of its frame. This joyful illusionistic work refers
back to the theatrical with the use of fabrics as well as the curtain used to unveil a show. Here the
stripes of colour enable the medium of painting to enter the realm of sculpture, creating painterly
sculptures and sculptural paintings. The duo coloured strips allow the viewer to see the
“underneath” or “back” of the painting and its role in becoming an illusion of depth and whether
there is a back or a front to the work.