1st - 31st May 2025
Sarah Wiseman Gallery
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Ade Ades na
Sarah Wiseman Gallery are pleased to present ‘Glitch’, a solo show by Ade Adesina. Ade is an award-winning printmaker working predominantly in linocut and etching, investigating ecology through a sociopolitical lens. Glitch will be his third solo presentation at the gallery. Ade’s works are imaginary compositions of juxtaposing landscapes which highlight global issues on ecology and the footprint humanity now leaves on the natural world. Heavy machinery sits among safari wildlife, clouds often found suspended from metal chains in a bleak sky, baobab trees dominate man-made cityscapes. Visually striking and complex, Ade’s black & white imagery tells the story of his fascination with the world’s turbulent environment.
Detail of 'Phantom', Lino cut
The exhibition title Glitch refers to a print Ade recently finished, experimenting with combining lino and laser cutting. He says, ‘I began the print in 2012, and I recently picked it up again and finished where it was going. I remember when I began the imagery for the print, I had certain narratives attached to it about certain issues I was passionate about at the time, and then when I finished it that narrative changed completely…It was almost as if a Glitch happened.’ This print became a catalyst for the body of work we see in this exhibition, representational of how narratives shift in art as time goes on. Ade grew up in Nigeria and now lives and works in Aberdeen, Scotland. He is a Royal Scottish Academician, a member of The Royal Society of Painters and Printmakers, and a member of The London Group. He has had artist residencies at Eton College, Glasgow Print Studio, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, Engramme, Quebec, Canada, and Fossekleiva Kultursenter Berger Museum, Norway 2024. More recently, he was awarded the Mario Avati Engraving Prize 2023 from the Academie des Beaux-Arts, France. Ade’s print ‘The View After the Questions’ was acquired by The Arts Council Collection in 2024.
ade adesina 'Contemplation' Linocut Framed Size H 115.5 x 85cm Sold - we may be able to source another copy Enquire
Enquire
ade adesina 'Drip' Linocut Framed Size H 53.5 x 41.5cm £400
ade adesina 'Whisper' Linocut Framed Size H 65 x 52cm £450 Sold - we may be able to source another copy
ade adesina Collaboration with AhmAd ahmAd 'Twenty-Twenty Four' Linocut Framed Size H 105 x 129cm £1600
ade adesina 'Under The Grey Sky' Linocut Framed Size H 106 x 84cm £850 Enquire
ade adesina 'Aurora' Linocut Framed Size H 124 x 71cm £950
ade adesina 'Phantom' Linocut Framed Size H 106 x 87cm £1050 Enquire
ade adesina collaboration with david mach 'Signs of Life' Linocut Framed Size H 133 x 207cm £3800
'I think my work is mainly storytelling. I think if I'm not an artist, I'll be a writer. It is my way of writing, trying to make a commentary about certain issues or something going on in the world.'
Detail from 'Signs of Life', Ade Adesina
ade adesina 'Glitch' Linocut & Laser Cut Framed Size H 56 x 54cm £500
‘The environment is always foundational to my work, questioning the current narratives, highlighting the beauty of our planet.’
ade adesina 'Breeze' Linocut Framed Size H 32.5 x 51cm £250 Enquire
Sold - We may be able to source another copy Enquire
ade adesina 'Intersection' Stone Lithograph Framed Size H 92 x 70cm Enquire
ade adesina 'Further Up North' Photogravure Framed Size H 65 x 50.5cm Sold - We may be able to source another copy
ade adesina 'Twilight' Photogravure Framed Size H 122 x 68cm £950
ade adesina 'Fantasy I' Linocut Framed Size H 65 x 52cm £500
ade adesina 'Fantasy II' Linocut Framed Size H 65 x 52cm £500
ade adesina 'Translation I' Linocut Framed Size H 118 x 77cm £1100
ade adesina 'Translation II' Linocut Framed Size H 118 x 77cm £1100
ade adesina 'Junction' Linocut Framed Size H 59.5 x 47.5cm £480 £
ade adesina 'Presumption' Linocut Framed Size H 65 x 51cm £500
ade adesina 'Flow' Linocut Framed Size H 43 x 30.5cm £250
ade adesina 'Dome' Linocut Framed Size H 44.5 x 36cm £250
ade adesina 'Parallel' Linocut Framed Size H 121 x 87cm £1250
ade adesina 'Frolic' Mezzotint Framed Size H 47 x 51cm £500
ade adesina 'Embankment' Mezzotint Framed Size H 47 x 51cm £500
ade adesina 'Culture' Stone Lithograph Framed Size H 91 x 70.5cm £900
'I play with still life bringing together objects from different cultures to create my own symbolism, to create meaning with the composition, however I leave space for the viewer to imagine their own narrative. I am fascinated by the Dutch Golden Age, where there is a lot of politics within still life, a subtlety that is often now overlooked.'
ade adesina 'Line of Duty I' Woodcut Framed Size H 121 x 87cm £1050
ade adesina 'Line of Duty III' Woodcut Framed Size H 121 x 87cm £1050
ade adesina 'Line of Duty II' Woodcut Framed Size H 121 x 87cm £1050
ade adesina 'Beam II' Linocut Framed Size H 64.5 x 51cm £500
ade adesina 'Beam I' Linocut Framed Size H 64.5 x 51cm £500
Linocut, type of print made from a sheet of linoleum into which a design has been cut in relief. This process of printmaking is similar to woodcut, but, since linoleum lacks a grain, linocuts can yield a greater variety of effects than woodcuts can.
'I didn't know anything about printmaking. Growing up in Nigeria, you know, I've always painted. I did a bit of wood carving, you know, a little bit of everything, maybe like banners and stuff but I never heard about printmaking. It was at my first college in the UK that I tried printmaking and was introduced to the printmaking studio; my mind opened up, it felt like the possibilities were endless.'
Mezzotint is a form of intaglio printing related to drypoint and engraving. The name ‘mezzotint’ derives from the Italian half-tint or shade, or more aptly, for printmaking half-tone. The process involves indenting the metal printing plate by rocking a toothed metal tool across the surface. The printmaker creates dark and light tones by gradually rubbing down or burnishing the rough surface to various degrees of smoothness to reduce the ink-holding capacity of areas of the plate.
Printmaking Glossary
Lithography is a a printing process based on the fact that grease and water don’t mix. The image is applied to a grained surface (traditionally stone) using a greasy medium: such as a special greasy ink. A solution of gum arabic and nitric acid is then applied over the surface, producing water-receptive non-printing areas and grease-receptive image areas. The printing surface is kept wet, so that a roller charged with oil-based ink can be rolled over the surface, and ink will only stick to the grease-receptive image area.
Photogravure is a process originally developed for printing photographs and is also used for intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and then coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio plate that can reproduce detailed continuous tones of a photograph.
Woodcut, a block of wood is carved so that an image stands out in relief. The relief image is then inked and paper placed against its surface before being run through a press. It is possible to make a woodcut without a press by placing the inked block against a sheet of paper and applying pressure by hand.
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