

Jade Montserrat
Possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers, 2017-2020
Watercolor, gouache, pencil, pencil crayon, ink, graphite on paper
Framed Dimensions: 46.6 x 36.6 cm
Jade Montserrat is using a mixture of literary references for the works in the exhibition 'In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens'. WG Sebald’s Rings of Saturn is referenced in the work 'Possessed of...
Jade Montserrat is using a mixture of literary references for the works in the exhibition "In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens". WG Sebald’s Rings of Saturn is referenced in the work "Possessed of a heart which is slowly reduced to embers".
"Navigating the affective ambiguities of bodily consciousness, often through the prism of Afro-diasporic subjectivity, Jade Montserrat’s drawings resist clear-cut interpretation. In them, fragments of the body merge uncomfortably with dreamy landscapes, strewn with motifs that feel symbolic but whose meanings could be multiple and conflicting. The recurring motif of the groin, presented as a frontal, semicartographic outline from waist to thigh, may celebrate female sexuality as a source of strength, and yet combined with such utopianism are more discomfiting references to sexual objectification and bodily dispossession." Ton Denman, Art Review, September 10, 2021
"Navigating the affective ambiguities of bodily consciousness, often through the prism of Afro-diasporic subjectivity, Jade Montserrat’s drawings resist clear-cut interpretation. In them, fragments of the body merge uncomfortably with dreamy landscapes, strewn with motifs that feel symbolic but whose meanings could be multiple and conflicting. The recurring motif of the groin, presented as a frontal, semicartographic outline from waist to thigh, may celebrate female sexuality as a source of strength, and yet combined with such utopianism are more discomfiting references to sexual objectification and bodily dispossession." Ton Denman, Art Review, September 10, 2021
Provenance
Acquired from Bosse & Baum, London, United Kingdom
Exhibitions
Bosse & Baum, London, United Kingdom | Jade Montserrat : In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens | June 2021 - July 2021.Christies, London, United Kingdom | Bold Black British | October 2021.
Publications
Tom Denman | "Jade Montserrat: In Search of Our Mother's Gardens" | ArtReview | September 2021.The Art Newspaper | "London Gallery Weekend: The Ultimate Guide" | The Art Newspaper | May 27, 2021.
Mimi Chu | "What to See in South London During Gallery Weekend" | Freize | June 4, 2021.
Cristina Ruiz | "Meet Jade Montserrat, the Black artist who took on the British art establishment" | The Art Newspaper | 27 May 2022.