2023 National Gallery Artist in Residence

Céline Condorelli: Pentimenti (The Corrections)

Past exhibition

13 September 2023 – 7 January 2024

Location: Room 31

Admission free

New works of art by Artist in Residence Céline Condorelli exposed our surroundings in ways mostly invisible to the naked eye.

‘Pentimenti’ (Italian for ‘regrets’) are the early stages of a picture which, when revealed by scans, show evidence of an artist’s corrections. Condorelli invited us to become aware of our own way of seeing, to pay attention to the space and materials of the National Gallery, how we behaved in it, and how it is connected to the world outside.

Her installation transformed Room 31: a richly coloured print draped and filtered daylight entering through the skylight. A large rug replaced the museum’s benches and a soundscape by Hannah Catherine Jones, of voices and music of Trafalgar Square filled the room through the specially designed air vents on the floor.

Based on research conducted since the beginning of the one-year residency, she came to understand museums as ‘machines for seeing’ that teach us how to perceive and value art. The printed textiles contained technical images of all the materials in the room – such as marble, wood and wall fabric – made with the National Gallery’s Scientific Department using methods usually applied to paintings.

The National Gallery Artist in Residence is a collaboration with the Contemporary Art Society.

Programme sponsored by Hiscox