Bettina Samson

Bettina Samson’s works are a prism through which histories – cultural, scientific, political and geographical – are mediated, diffracted and spliced. Samson’s research-based practice involves meticulous enquiries into overlooked legacies such as that of 20th Century French composer and ornithologist Olivier Messiaen, or Henri Becquerel’s accidental discovery of radioactivity. Through representing seemingly disparate nodes of history, Samson’s practice acts as a conduit to connect them, asking the viewer to question causality, predetermination and the nature of randomness. The strength of Samson’s practice lies in the outcomes of her research: complex mixed media sculptures rendered in materials such as glazed stoneware, terracotta and borosilicate glass. Samson intertwines these into braided, twisted forms. While they are outwardly hard and durable, the materials are simultaneously fragile and frangible. Written by Goldsmiths CCA ...

Founded in 2010 by Guillaume Sultana, Sultana collaborates with emerging international artists. The gallery space operates as a site for experimentation and expression, often bringing together well-established and lesser known artists through a playful, yet politically-engaged curatorial program that highlights practices concerned with questions of identity and their social ramifications. By giving space to curators and writers, in addition to artists, the gallery is committed to rethinking the traditional modes of exhibition-making and collaboration within the art world. In 2021, Sultana opened Sultana Summer Set Arles to convene artists, collectors, curators, and friends close to the gallery in a domestic and intimate space in the heart of the city. This space was conceived as a residency and site of exchange, to host projects angled toward creative freedom, reflection, and flânerie that eschews a regular programming schedule, and is organized instead according to the whims and desires of our community. These two spaces exemplify the spirit of Sultana: the desire to provide artists with an independent platform for expression via site-specific projects and curatorial propositions. ...