Alexandre Diop @ Stephen Friedman Gallery, London - "Run For Your Life !" Exhibition

Alexandre Diop

Run For Your Life !

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

19 September - 1 November 2025

Alexandre Diop

A Vos marques ! Prêt ! Illegal, 2025

© Alexandre Diop, courtesy Stephen Friedman Gallery

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents Run For Your Life !, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Franco-Senegalese artist ALEXANDRE DIOP. This marks the artist's debut show with the gallery and his first solo exhibition in London.

Alexandre Diop’s powerful mixed-media works explore themes of history, metaphorical archaeology and socio-political change, with this body of work focusing on the relationship between movement and time, represented by dance or migration. The title of the exhibition, Run For Your Life !, is an invitation to stand for change, show tolerance, and be alert to crises around the world. Diop’s practice is interdisciplinary; his experience as a dancer, musician, and visual artist allows him to create artworks that transcend traditional paintings.

Physicality is central to the artist’s process. Diop’s rigorous approach to his work—which he refers to as object-images—combines found and recycled materials such as scrap metal, wood, leather, and textile remnants with classical techniques like oil painting. The materials are sourced from scrapyards, urban streets and derelict buildings, and then transformed through an intensive process of layering, burning, tearing, stapling and collaging onto wood panels. His material language, while firmly rooted in personal and political narratives, also engages with multiple art-historical lineages. His work draws from movements such as Dada, Art Brut, Expressionism and the Viennese Secession, while maintaining a strong dialogue with both West African aesthetic traditions and the visual codes of contemporary urban culture.

Alexandre Diop’s practice is anchored in drawing. He combines calligraphic strokes, symbols, and layered images that are painted, drawn, or sprayed. Figures— both human and animal—emerge from textured surfaces that blur the boundaries of painting, sculpture, and relief. Their stance recalls the awareness of a dancer, attuned to the body’s own rhythms. In this sense, the works look inward: they stage a dialogue between movement and stillness, surface and depth, becoming mirrors through which viewers may glimpse fragments of their own inner reality.

At the same time, Alexandre Diop’s work confronts the world beyond the self. It reflects on how individuals are bound by external forces—systems of illegality, oppression, and exclusion. In A Vos marques ! Prêt ! Illegal, 2025, a central figure cries out yet remains unheard, embodying the suffocation of life within unjust structures. The work echoes the story of Jesse Owens, the African-American runner who won Olympic gold in 1936 under Nazi rule, and becomes a call for freedom, justice, and resilience against overwhelming odds. Alexandre Diop constructs new worlds where historical, political, and social narratives unfold, offering his figures a space to resist, endure, and reimagine history.

Artist Alexandre Diop

Alexandre Diop is a Franco-Senegalese artist whose powerful, mixed-media works interrogate themes of ancestry, beauty, violence and social transformation. Drawing upon his experience as a dancer, musician, and visual artist, Alexandre Diop brings a multidisciplinary lens to his practice, crafting works that are deeply visceral and formally innovative. Alexandre Diop was born in Paris, France in 1995. He lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

Alexandre Diop’s work has been the subject of major solo museum exhibitions. In 2023, his work was presented with 18th century anatomical wax models of bodies and body parts in Anatomie at Josephinum Medical Museum, Vienna, Austria. His residency at the Rubell Museum in Miami culminated in a touring exhibition, Jooba Jubba, l’Art du Défi, the Art of Challenge, shown in Miami (2022) and Washington DC (2023). In 2022, Alexandre Diop exhibited alongside Kehinde Wiley in La Prochaine Fois, Le Feu, presented by Reiffers Art Initiatives in Paris.

Notable group exhibitions include Les Apparitions, Reiffers Art Initiatives, Paris, France (2025); De Sculptura, Albertina Klosterneuburg, Klosterneuburg, Austria (2025); The Beauty of Diversity, Albertina Modern, Vienna, Austria (2024); Being Mortal, Dom Museum, Vienna, Austria (2023); The New African Portraiture, Shariat Collections, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria (2022); and Le Mouton Noir, Gesso Art Space, Vienna, Austria (2021).

Alexandre Diop’s works can be found in the collections of Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria; AMA Venezia, Venice, Italy; AMOCA, Cardiff, Wales, UK; Espacio Tacuarí, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Josephinum Medical Museum, Vienna, Austria; Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria; MB Collection, Germany; National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC, USA; Reiffers Art Initiatives, Paris, France; Rubell Museum, Miami, Florida and Washington DC, USA; Ståhl Collection, Norrköping, Sweden; Stora Wäsby Public Collection, Stockholm, Sweden and The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA.

STEPHAN FRIEDMAN GALLERY LONDON

5-6 Cork Street, London W1S 3LQ 

www.stephenfriedman.com

Ana Cláudia Almeida @ Stephen Friedman Gallery, NYC - "Over Again" Exhibition

Ana Cláudia Almeida: Over Again

Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York

5 September - 18 October 2025

Ana Cláudia Almeida

Licking, 2025

© Ana Cláudia Almeida, courtesy Stephen Friedman Gallery

Stephen Friedman Gallery, New York, presents Over Again, an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Brooklyn-based, Brazilian artist ANA CLAUDIA ALMEIDA. This marks the artist’s first solo exhibition in New York.

Ana Cláudia Almeida is an artist whose work explores materiality through movement and mark-making, incorporating a range of media including paper, plastic, oil pastels, paint, video, and sculpture. Her practice seeks to disrupt the functional role of objects by examining the dynamic tension between interior and exterior, individual and environment. The fluttering nature of her works on fabric, the shifting quality of her sculptures, and the kaleidoscopic fragmentation of her large-scale paintings transform intangible memories into physical form.

In Over Again, drawing, oil painting, sculpture, and plastic collide in what Ana Cláudia Almeida describes as an “ecosystem of pieces,” where each medium leaks into the next—a monotype that wants to be a drawing, a drawing that yearns to be a painting, and plastic remnants that refuse to be cast aside. Processes coexist and collide across surfaces, embodying the changeability that sustains both life and artistic practice. Her work reflects the cyclical nature and plasticity of life, tracing the ways in which every action leaves an imprint that shapes what comes next.

Ana Cláudia Almeida’s new body of work—and the exhibition’s title—draws inspiration from Brazilian musician Tim Maia’s song Over Again, which she embraces as a mantra urging liberation from rigid patterns in mind, body, and daily life. Literature, music like Maia’s, and the people she’s met have opened her to alternative ways of living, offering a vision of a less harsh existence. “Precisely in the moments when everything felt more urgent than fabulation, allowing myself that exercise was one of the greatest experiences of freedom I could have had… and now my new pleasure is to lean into the place that hope occupies in the lives of us, Black people.”

In works like Cascata II (2025), Ana Cláudia Almeida revisits the notion of freedom—inseparable, for her, from hope. The largest work in the exhibition is composed of vividly painted fabric that cascades from the gallery ceiling. Its free-flowing brushstrokes unfurl in winding swaths of color, a stunning display of the artist’s intuitive process. This sense of unrestrained movement extends throughout the exhibition: in Dew (gripe) and Belly full of liquids (both 2025), Almeida uses expanses of white space to frame and amplify her vibrant, expressive line drawings. 

For Over Again, Ana Cláudia Almeida assembles a constellation of works that speak to difference, resilience, and the radical act of imagining otherwise. Together, they form what she calls “an essay for a world of differences and complexities”—a defiant refusal of the “machine of existence-flattening” and an invitation to inhabit a space where freedom and hope are lived, shared possibilities.

Artist Ana Cláudia Almeida

Ana Cláudia Almeida (b. 1993, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; lives in Brooklyn, New York) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans painting, sculpture, and video. Her work has been exhibited widely in Brazil and internationally. Notable presentations include a two-person exhibition with Tadáskía at the Nevada Museum of Art as part of the Joyner/Giuffrida Visiting Artists Programme; Guandu Paraguaçu Piraquara at Fortes D’Aloia & Gabriel, Rio de Janeiro; Buracos, Crateras e Abraços at Quadra, Rio de Janeiro; and Wasapindorama at Fundação de Arte de Niterói, Niterói. Group exhibitions include Ensaios sobre a Paisagem at Instituto Inhotim, Brumadinho; Olhe bem as montanhas at Quadra, São Paulo; Essas Pessoas na Sala de Jantar at Casa Museu Eva Klabin, Rio de Janeiro; Crônicas Cariocas at Museu de Arte do Rio; and Casa Carioca at Museu de Arte do Rio.

Ana Cláudia Almeida holds a BFA from Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro and an MFA from the Yale School of Art. 

Her work is held in the public collections of Museu de Arte do Rio, Instituto Inhotim, Sesc Rio de Janeiro, and the Nevada Museum of Art.

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY NEW YORK

54 Franklin Street, New York 10013

www.stephenfriedman.com

Yoshitomo Nara, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Yoshitomo Nara

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

2 – 31 May 2003

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents an exhibition of new paintings, drawings, sculptures and prints by Japanese artist Yoshitomo Nara.

Like a child negotiating the confusing period of adolescence, Yoshitomo Nara's work reflects an abundance of emotions and characteristics such as anxiety, fear, preciousness, insecurity, pleasure and confidence. Figures often exist in a dream-like world and appear to float or stand on clouds and water. Children challenge the viewer with aggressive glares and animals beckon with tender faces. Throughout Yoshitomo Nara's varied practice, the viewer is reminded of the allure of youth as well as current adult preoccupations.

The visual vocabulary of Japanese manga and anime (cartoons and animations) and Yoshitomo Nara's own childhood experiences mould his work. Western media culture, modernism and Rock 'n' Roll music also influence the artist. Far from naïve and illustrative, images which emerge in Yoshitomo Nara's work tend to be based on the dark or painful side of life, tapping into our most personal and emotional thoughts. The work also inspires optimism and encourages the viewer to look for hope.

Yoshitomo Nara has exhibited extensively around the world. Recent solo exhibitions include Centre National de l'estampe et de l'art imprimé, Chatou, France in 2002; Yoshitomo Nara: in those days, Hakutosha, Nagoya, Japan and I don't mind if you forget me, Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, Japan (and touring) in 2001. Selected group exhibitions include Splat, Boom, Pow! The Influence of comics in Contemporary Art, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, USA in 2003; Drawing Now: Eight Propositions, MoMA QNS, Queens, New York, USA in 2002; Super flat, Museum Of Contemporary Art, Los Angels, USA in 2001. In 2003, Yoshitomo Nara will also have a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, USA, travelling to the Institute of Contemporary Art Philadelphia, USA and the Contemporary Art Museum St Louis, USA.

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY

25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1S 3AN

www.stephenfriedman.com

Helen Mirra, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Helen Mirra

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

21 March – 19 April 2003

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents the first solo exhibition in London of new works by Chicago-based artist Helen Mirra.

Helen Mirra's varied practice includes sculpture, film, video, language and sound. The artist's minimalist works often refer to the earth, sea and sky through the consistent use of a green, blue and brown palette. Throughout her practice, an interest in the relationship between the natural world and the people who inhabit it motivate works that are elegant and poignant. A further interest in both cinema history and film structure manifests most explicitly in an ongoing group of works made of lengths of 16mm cloth, which Helen Mirra thinks of as "silent silent films".

In the front gallery, the floor sculpture Sky-wreck is constructed of large triangles cut from a coarse indigo cloth. Fragments of a flattened polyhedral form, Sky-wreck materializes an idea of the sky as firmament, literally mapping a section. A distopic Paul Celan poem and the utopian experiments of Buckminster Fuller are reference points in this sculpture.

In the back gallery, Helen Mirra presents Arrow, a sound and video work in which images of the violent Babylonian tomboy "The Mountain Girl" (Constance Talmadge) from D.W. Griffith's epic Intolerance (1916), appear briefly out of complete darkness. The work is made with the structure and timing of a thunderstorm: the flashes of image have the irregular lengths of lightning and guitar and bass parallel rain and thunder. The work can be seen as a meditation on both natural and human manifestations of violence.

Helen Mirra has exhibited in the United States and Europe. Recent solo shows in 2002 have been held at The Renaissance Society, Chicago and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Group shows in 2003 include Paper Sculpture at the Sculpture Center, New York, USA; Land, Land!, at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland and in 2002, Art Projects, curated by James Rondeau, Art Basel, Miami, USA; Here and Now, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago; Sudden Glory, CCAC Institute, San Francisco, USA; and in 2001, Tirana Biennial, Albania.

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY

25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1S 3AN

www.stephenfriedman.com

Kendell Geers, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London - Rogue States

Kendell Geers: Rogue States

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

7 February – 15 March 2003

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by Kendell Geers.

Kendell Geers is known for creating installations, sculptures and situations which assault our senses by means of carefully selected and appropriated materials, sound, and manipulated film footage. On first impression work that appears tough and confrontational slowly reveals itself to be poignant, even poetic. Kendell Geers brings to the forefront the most extreme and intimate emotional states in the human psyche. Questioning the nature of desire, violence, horror or ecstasy, the artist disturbs commonly accepted moral codes and puts into doubt the principles by which good and bad are judged. The intensity of the works does not allow any escape from the resulting impact. This practice, multi-layered and rich in references, is sometimes made obvious by title or use of medium but is more often concealed for the viewer to discover. Kendell Geers tempts the audience to peer over the edge, to confront their own true selves, to accept responsibility for their own actions and to forfeit security for freedom.

For his exhibition at Stephen Friedman Gallery, Kendell Geers has installed a large text piece which covers the gallery windows. It is an extract of a succession of hundreds of words from the dictionary and can be viewed from both the outside and the inside of the gallery. A variety of objects are shown in the front space. On the floor, a clamp holds together several books, all featuring the word 'revolution' on their spines. A sphere made from surveillance mirrors sits on the ground. In a corner of the room, a cube is installed made of tape and alarm signs which are usually displayed outside of homes to discourage burglars. Also included is a sculpture of an antique religious figure wrapped in chevron tape, a material often used to cordon off areas of danger. In the back gallery a sculpture, made from different kinds of connected padlocks, creates a large square carpet that covers the floor.

Kendell Geers has exhibited extensively around the world, most notably at Documenta 11 and The Short Century show in 2002, and the Carnegie International in 1999. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, 2002, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, 2001 and Le Consortium in Dijon and Museum für Angewandte Kunst Wien in 2000. In England, Kendell Geers has shown at Delfina Project Space in 2001 and was part of the Arts Council touring exhibition, Trauma, 2001.

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY

25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1S 3AN

www.stephenfriedman.com

Michal Rovner, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Michal Rovner

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

29 November 2002 – 26 January 2003

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents an exhibition of new works by Michal Rovner.

Michal Rovner was born in Tel Aviv in 1957 and has lived and worked in New York since 1988. Michal Rovner works with film, video and photography and her subjects confront issues of identity, memory and existence. The images she uses undergo a reductive process in the original recording, rendering them residues or shadows of the original subjects. For this exhibition, figures were filmed in a desolate Russian landscape and used as a starting point in the work.

In the front room, the texture of the works creates a flat field in which figures are reduced to dark forms against a blank white space. These beautiful and haunting images mark a new direction in Michal Rovner's work and resemble delicate charcoal drawings. Other works on paper are derived from the film Notes, a collaboration between Michal Rovner and composer Philip Glass.

In the back gallery, the film Coexistence 2 is shown on three monitors. Here, Michal Rovner orchestrated a large number of people to form interactive groups. The ambiguity of the action in the film makes it unclear whether these people are hostile gangs or amicable friends playing. Throughout the film, a soundtrack of shuffling feet is punctuated by the high cant of a human voice.

Michal Rovner has exhibited extensively around the world. From July – October 2002, The Whitney Museum of American Art presented a comprehensive mid-career retrospective titled The Space Between. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Whitney Biennial at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2000; The Corcoran Museum, Washington, D.C.; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; P.S.1, New York, and the Tate Gallery, London. Michal Rovner will be creating an installation for the Israel Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in June 2003.

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY

25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1S 3AN

www.stephenfriedman.com

Mamma Andersson, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Mamma Andersson

Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

23 October - 23 November 2002

Stephen Friedman Gallery presents an exhibition of new paintings by Swedish artist Mamma Andersson. This is the artist's first solo exhibition in London.

Mamma Andersson's paintings of haunting landscapes, strange interiors and mysterious people are at once magical, ominous and compelling. Scandinavian trees such as birch, pine, aspen and spruce feature among Mamma Andersson's motifs together with animals, children, classrooms and libraries. In Mamma Andersson's paintings, adults look disorientated, interiors are disordered and the environments portrayed are unstable.

The manner in which paint is applied to Mamma Anderssons' canvases is both delicate and dramatic. Subtle throws of light reveal uncanny details while broad, dark brush strokes imply a more sinister setting. Mamma Andersson's paintings are loaded with symbols, historical references and allusions to local Swedish art and culture. Characters are often removed from their original contexts and are given new identities and meanings. Existing images from art history, popular culture and news photography are also recyclyed to form new narratives in her work. Steeped in Swedish colourist tradition, Mamma Andersson's paintings recall the fearful atmosphere of fairy tales and local folk legends.

Mamma Andersson has exhibited extensively in Sweden and was selected for the Carnegie Art Award which toured to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki and Reykjavík in 2000-2001.

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN GALLERY

25-28 Old Burlington Street, London W1S 3AN

www.stephenfriedman.com