Art Preview: The Uncanny @ Ronchini Gallery

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 134 months ago
Art Preview: The Uncanny @ Ronchini Gallery
Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Minerva, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery Photo Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus Minerva, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery Photo Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus II, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery Photo Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus II, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery Photo Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
Adeline de Monseignat, Hairy Eye Ball, 2011. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery
Adeline de Monseignat, Hairy Eye Ball, 2011. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery
Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus D’Aspremont, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery. Photo Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
Berndnaut Smilde, Nimbus D’Aspremont, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery. Photo Cassander Eeftinck Schattenkerk
Adeline de Monseignat, Tantal Eyes, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery
Adeline de Monseignat, Tantal Eyes, 2012. Courtesy the artist and Ronchini Gallery

Berndnaut Smilde's 'indoor clouds' kept popping up on art websites and tweets throughout last year, so it's only fitting that he's been given the chance to display his photographs in a London exhibition. Despite first appearances, there is no photoshopping of his works: they are the product of a fog machine, a camera and a lot of patience.

His work is both surreal and ethereal, inviting us into believing that the artist has captured a snapshot of the magical. This captured moment in time, plus the fact the clouds are suspended in unassuming locations, gives them a touch of reality encouraging viewers to imagine that clouds can travel indoors.

Smilde shares this exhibition with another young artist, Adeline de Monseignat. Her work also embraces a surreal take on the natural world but she prefers to work with fur, as it represents a state of living without being alive. She chooses to create sculptures that appear as if they could become animated – even going so far as to refer to her creations as 'creaptures' (a cross between creature and sculpture).

These are two exciting young artists experimenting with eye-catching pieces and this exhibition is sure to create many more fans of their work.

The Uncanny: Adeline de Monseignat and Berndnaut Smilde curated by James Putnam is on display at Ronchini Gallery, 22 Dering St, W1S 1AN from 16 January until 16 February. Admission is free.

Last Updated 09 January 2013