Chantal Joffe
Beside the Seaside
A major exhibition of works by Chantal Joffe opens the 2015 season at Jerwood Gallery.
Born in Vermont in 1969, Chantal grew up in London, where she still lives and works, but she spends a great deal of time in Hastings & St Leonards.
Joffe paints powerful portraits, mostly of women and children, which have astonishing insight, integrity and humour. She paints with expressive fluidity, using large brushstrokes to capture personality and a sense of movement.
2015 is very much Chantal Joffe’s year, with exhibitions in New York and at the National Portrait Gallery. It all begins with Beside The Seaside at Jerwood Gallery, the only show with a focus on her portraits featuring familiar scenes of Hastings & St Leonards.
Joffe has exhibited around the world, with major exhibitions in Helsinki, Milan, Los Angeles and London. Chantal is an Elect member of the Royal Academy and she has received many awards throughout her career, including the Delfina Studio Trust Award (1994), the Abbey Major Scholarship in painting at the British School at Rome (1998), and the Royal Academy’s Charles Wollaston Award (2006).
John Moores Painting Prize 2014 winner, Rose Wylie, who also helped to launch the gallery in 2012 with her exhibition, Big Boys Sit in the Front, has co-curated the exhibition.
“An absolutely splendid exhibition. The artist has portrayed not only the exterior but the ‘interior’ of her models. Remarkable and very exposed – but brilliant. Thank you for such enlightenment.” – Gallery Visitors.
