Celia Paul: Objects of Desire

Victoria Miro is delighted to announce an exhibition in Venice of new paintings by Celia Paul, examining the act of looking and being looked at. The exhibition coincides with the publication of a new book by the artist, Objects of Desire: An Artist in Venice, a painter's memoir of obsession, loss and creation during a residency in Venice. The pivotal subject of both the book and the exhibition is Giorgione's La Tempesta (1503–1504), on view in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, which interested Paul because of the dynamic between the figure of a man and a breastfeeding woman. In 2023, Paul painted an interpretation of La Tempesta, which she titled That Obscure Object of Desire, the same title as Luis Buñuel's 1977 surrealist film, noting how the film and the painting share dreamlike qualities and are rich with symbolism. The new paintings in this exhibition continue her fascination with the complex relationship between the observer and the observed.