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Introduction
Victoria Miro is delighted to present The Eel, an exhibition of new paintings by Chantal Joffe completed this summer during a residency with the gallery in Venice.
Defined by its clarity, honesty and empathy, Chantal Joffe’s art is attuned to our awareness as both observers and observed beings, and is questioning, complex and emotionally rich. Over the summer, the artist has worked in the gallery’s studio in Venice, completing paintings – self-portraits; paintings of her daughter, Esme; still lifes – against the backdrop of the city at its high-season peak, a place of magnificence, stimulation, pleasure, excess and decay, endlessly toppling into one another.
The exhibition is accompanied by The Spoils, a new essay by Olivia Laing, who writes, ‘How can you paint all this? Put your body in the middle of it and hope to catch a flash as something vanishes or changes state. The only way to walk in the crowd is to submit to its sleepwalker pace, and maybe these pictures are a little like that. Lido, vaporetto, tramezzini on a plate. Everything is gorgeous, everything contains its secret evidence of death.’
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Works
12 Chantal Joffe Blue Moon Spiaggia with Fruit, 2023
Oil on canvas 70.0 x 100.0 x 2.5
cm
27.6 x 39.4 x 1
in
CJ 1966
Chantal Joffe Bowl of Cherries, 2023
Oil on board 30.0 x 40.0 x 2.5
cm
11.9 x 15.8 x 1
in
CJ 1941
Chantal Joffe Calle al Ponte de l'Anzolo (Puro Lino), 2023
Oil on canvas 215.0 x 100.0 x 2.5
cm
84.7 x 39.4 x 1
in
CJ 1950
Chantal Joffe Esme in Giudecca, 2023
Oil on canvas 100.0 x 70.0 x 2.5
cm
39.4 x 27.6 x 1
in
CJ 1959
Chantal Joffe Esme on the Vaporetto, 2023
Oil on board 50.0 x 60.0 x 2.5
cm
19.7 x 23.7 x 1
in
CJ 1949
Chantal Joffe Letto (Spiaggia), 2023
Oil on canvas 230.0 x 120.0 x 2.5
cm
90.6 x 47.3 x 1
in
CJ1951
Chantal Joffe Lido, 2023
Oil on board 50.0 x 60.0 x 2.5
cm
19.7 x 23.7 x 1
in
CJ 1969
Chantal Joffe Lido, 2023
Oil on board 50.0 x 60.0 x 2.5
cm
19.7 x 23.7 x 1
in
CJ 1962
Chantal Joffe Lido, 2023
Oil on board 60.0 x 50.0 x 2.5
cm
23.7 x 19.7 x 1
in
CJ 1965
Chantal Joffe Ombrellone B14B, 2023
Oil on canvas 70.0 x 100.0 x 2.5
cm
27.6 x 39.4 x 1
in
CJ 1967
Chantal Joffe The Eel, 2023
Oil on canvas 50.0 x 100.0 x 2.5
cm
19.7 x 39.4 x 1
in
CJ 1947
Chantal Joffe Zattere, 2023
Oil on board 70.0 x 50.0 x 2.5
cm
27.6 x 19.7 x 1
in
CJ 1964
Chantal Joffe
Chantal Joffe brings insight and integrity, as well as psychological and emotional depth, to the genre of figurative art. Defined by its clarity, honesty and empathetic warmth, her work is attuned to our awareness as both observers and observed beings, bold and expressive in style yet always questioning, nuanced and emotionally rich.
A primary focus throughout Joffe’s career has been on the women and children in her life, captured at various stages of their own lives. Joffe has talked about her paintings in terms of transitions, those associated with growing and ageing, as well as her attempts to mark a life’s milestones. The complex relationship between mother and child over time has been a significant theme, while self-portraiture, which Joffe considers ‘a way of thinking about time passing’, remains one of the cornerstones of her art.
Whether drawing inspiration from art history, popular culture or personal experiences, Joffe’s paintings are always attentive to narratives about connection, perception and representation. They alert us to the endless intricacies of bodily expression and the myriad ways in which we reveal ourselves and communicate emotion, consciously or otherwise, even in the most private of moments.
About the Artist
Born in 1969, Chantal Joffe lives and works in London. She holds an MA from the Royal College of Art and was awarded the Royal Academy Wollaston Prize in 2006.
Joffe has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including The Exchange, Penzance, UK (2025); The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK (2023–24); The Modern, Fort Worth, Texas, USA (2022); Koohouse Museum, Yangpyong, Korea (2022); The Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2021); The Foundling Museum, London, UK (2020); Arnolfini, Bristol, UK (2020); Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK (2019); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (2018); The Lowry, Salford, UK (2018); Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK (2018, 2017); National Museum of Iceland, Reykjavík (2016); National Portrait Gallery, London, UK (2015); Jewish Museum, New York, USA (2015); Jerwood Gallery, Hastings, UK (2015); Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy (2014–15); Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2013–14); MODEM, Hungary (2012); Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2011); Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, USA (2009); MIMA Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK (2007); Galleri KB, Oslo, Norway (2005) and Bloomberg Space, London, UK (2004).
Her work is in numerous institutional and private collections, including the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, USA; Detroit Institute of Arts, USA; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK; National Portrait Gallery, London, UK; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA among others.
Joffe has created a major public work for the Elizabeth line in London titled A Sunday Afternoon in Whitechapel, on view at Whitechapel Elizabeth line station.
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