Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Our General Aims, 2022 (Acrylic on canvas, 190 x 150 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Hand Over, 2021 (Acrylic on canvas, 55 x 45 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Hand Over, 2021 (Acrylic on canvas, 55 x 45 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Hand Over (detail), 2021 (Acrylic on canvas, 55 x 45 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Rödhårig, 2022 (Acrylic on linen, 120 x 100 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Rödhårig (detail), 2022 (Acrylic on linen, 120 x 100 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Minor Inconveniences, 2022 (Acrylic on linen, 120 x 100 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Minor Inconveniences (detail), 2022 (Acrylic on linen, 120 x 100 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, A Heavy Tread, 2022 (Acrylic on linen, 120 x 100 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, A Heavy Tread (detail), 2022 (Acrylic on linen, 120 x 100 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Our General Aims, 2022 (Acrylic on canvas, 190 x 150 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Our General Aims (detail), 2022 (Acrylic on canvas, 190 x 150 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, All Sorts of Wrong (Whomever Draws a King), 2022 (Acrylic on canvas, 190 x 150 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, All Sorts of Wrong (Whomever Draws a King), 2022 (Acrylic on canvas, 190 x 150 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, All Sorts of Wrong (Whomever Draws a King) (detail), 2022 (Acrylic on canvas, 190 x 150 cm). |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
Olivia Sterling, Yowl installation view. |
To yowl is to utter a loud long cry of grief, pain, or distress. For Olivia Sterling it is the sound of the white person that openly laments the loss of its privileges in the face of societal progression in diversity and inclusion. In her new body of work the British artist not only wants us to see how whiteness looks like, a recurring topos in her work, but also metaphorically present us with how it sounds like. Inspired by a specific experience of one of these casual, yet chilling, remarks (namely the recount of privileged parents scoffing at how it is getting harder for their non-marginalised children to get into prestigious universities in the United Kingdom), in Yowl, Sterling depicts these utterances in all their crudeness while, with her signature slapstick style, she exposes them as what they are, yowling cries for attention, so eye roll-inducing to become bitterly laughable.
Alina Vergnano & Mattia Lullini
(1) Robin DiAngelo, White Fragility and the Rules of Engagement, p. 1.
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Olivia Sterling’s (b. 1996, Peterborough) paintings critique racialised discourses in our contemporary through the depiction of everyday objects and settings. On her zoomed-in canvases, limbs of different skin tones are often placed in ordinary scenes, and colour blocks are tagged with letters and numbers referencing to racial compartmentalisation. While Sterling’s slapstick style, vibrant colours, bold brushstrokes and cartoon-styled outlines seem to be cheerful at first glance, they serve the artist’s aim to unveil the underlying systemic racism, prejudice and everydayness of othering that pervade our society even in the most mundane activities. Graduating with an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art, Sterling was exhibited at CCA Goldsmiths (London, 2021), Cob Gallery (London, 2021), Galerie Droste (Paris, 2021), Guts Gallery (London, 2020), Blank Projects (Cape Town, 2020), White Cube (Online, 2020), UCA Farnham (Surrey, 2019), and RCA Battersea (London, 2018). Sterling lives and works in London, United Kingdom.
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