About

ALICE CESCATTI 

ARTISTS STATEMENT

Since arriving in England from New Zealand, Cescatti has exhibited at Galleries around the world, including her first Solo Exhibition at the Galerie Siret in Paris in 2004. After completing a four-year Apprenticeship with Gilder and Designer Rupert Bevan in the Restoration of Gilded & Painted Furniture Alice then devoted several years to teaching painting and gilding techniques in Vietnam for a prestigious British Design Company alongside working as a freelance gilder in Europe.

Cescatti’s unique painting process involves a rarely seen craft of water-gilding of which Alice has mastered numerous ways of describing light through her understanding of gilding and its tonality and by studying gilding aging techniques which inspired her to add character and depth to her paintings. Cescatti has then undertaken intensive experimentation of mixed media materials to create an alchemic response with the silver and gold leaf. Alice’s techniques include adding layer upon layer of texture and colour and then taking away layers by dissolving with splashes and washes of various substances evoking an atmosphere of triggered emotional responses to the painting subject and surface. Driving life in and out of the painting and immersing herself in the presence of the work that comes from structured colour and light combining together.

 

From an early age, Alice became fascinated by the interaction between the dramatic landscapes and the intense light of the South Pacific. Cescatti appreciated the remoteness of the land she was born in and it’s quality of uninterrupted and uninhabited space. Although Cescatti is based in London living in a chaotic urban environment Cescatti has instinctively gravitated towards locations for painting that combine a sense of wilderness with intense light and colour, for example, the coastal areas around Southern England and Norfolk. She has also found inspiration in the landscapes of Flanders and the South of France. It is clearly reflected in Cescatti’s work that she has a strong connection to the nobility of the Ocean which had a strong presence in her formative years and subsequently holds a strong presence in her painting.

Cescatti creates expressive semi-abstract land and seascapes celebrating the great power and energy of our native environment. Cescatti has painted several series expressing her concern for the preservation of our oceans in her Ocean Wound paintings, and her Reminiscence Series drawing our attention to issues regarding Climate Change and the development in global or regional climate patterns affecting our natural habitat.  She reveals her awareness of its increasing fragility in her works such as Ocean Wound, Ocean Mourning Flower, The Remains, and Scorched Earth. She also touches on the themes of Migration, using the symbolism of sinking boats adrift in the Ocean, and deserted landscapes as outposts under huge imposing skies.

Alice is an award-winning artist who has had both numerous Solo and Group Shows in London, throughout England, across Europe and America and her work is held in Public and Private Collections Worldwide.

 

 

 

 

 

BIOG

  • Born New Zealand. Resides in UK (from 1985)
  • Fine Arts , Ilam, Christchurch, New Zealand 1980, 1981
  • Interior Design Consultant, General Trading Company. New Zealand 1982-85
  • Diploma of Interior Design, London School of Distributive Trade, 1992
  • Trainee Gilder for Clare Mosley Gilding , London 1992-94
  • Trainee Gilder for Sainthill Frames , Haarlem, The Netherlands, 1994
  • Apprentice Gilder for Rupert Bevan Restoration 1994-1996
  • Gilder/ Teacher for Julian Chichester Design London,Vietnam 1996-2001
  • Freelance ,Gilder 1996-2004
  • Framing Consultant and Gallery Assistant for Ingo Fincke Gallery 2007-2020

Commissions include:

  • Sultan of Brunei, France, Brunei
  • Curator of Sculpture, The Louvre, Paris
  • Alberto Pinto Agency, Paris
  • Claridge’s and the Grosvenor House Hotel, London
  • Quo Vadis, Soho, London,
  • Scotts, Soho, London
  • Director of Cartier, Paris
  • Private Collectors

 

Solo Exhibitions:

  • Galerie Christian Siret, Palais Royal,Paris 2004
  • Ingo Fincke Gallery, London, 2008-2019
  • Modern Artists Gallery, Berkshire, England, June 2016, 2018
  • Paragon Gallery, Cheltenham, England 2017
  • 508 Gallery, 508 Kings Road, Chelsea, London, 2019

 

Group Shows include:

  • Cambridge Contemporary Art Gallery, England, 2009-11
  • Westbank Gallery, Notting Hill, London 2012,2013
  • Ingo Fincke Gallery, London 2008-2020
  • Surface Art, London. 2011-19
  • The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London, 2008-2019
  • Modern Artists Gallery, Berkshire, 2011-2020 (with Stuart Buchanan, 2016)
  • Group Show at the Frank Bowling Studio, RA, OBE, London, 2016
  • Byard Art, Cambridge, 2016, 2018
  • Trevisan International Art, Galerie de Marchi, Bologna, Italy 2016
  • Amsterdam Whitney Gallery, Chelsea, New York, 2016
  • Galerie Annee, Haarlem , The Netherlands with Peter de Graaff and Ralf Weber, 2017
  • Galerie Annee, Haarlem, The Netherlands, 2017,2018, 2019, 2020
  • The Paragon Gallery, Cheltenham, 2016,17,18,19,20
  • Biennale d’Arte Peschiera del Garda, Italy, 2017
  • Biennale Barcelona in the Museum of European Art 2017
  • Sale del Bramante, Piazza del Bramante, Rome, Italy, 2017
  • Summer Small Fine Art, Royal Opera Arcade Gallery, Pall Mall London, 2017
  • InArte Werkkunst Gallery, Berlin 2017
  • Milan International Art Award, Theatre Dal Verme, Milan 2017
  • ‘Complete Abstraction’, 508 Gallery, Kings Road, Chelsea, London, 2017
  • ‘Origins’, with Laura Fishman, 508 Gallery, Kings Road, Chelsea, London, 2017
  • Group Show, at the Frank Bowling  Studio, RA, OBE, London, 2017
  • Biennial of Contemporary Art, Diocesan Museum Francesco Gonzaga, Mantova, Italy, 2017
  • Affordable Art Fair, Amsterdam, Galerie Annee, Harlem, The Netherlands, 2017, 2018, 2019
  • Affordable Art Fair Edinburgh, Paragon Gallery, 2017
  • Shortlisted for The Royal Arts Prize Exhibition, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London 2018
  • Exhibition Galerie Annee, Haarlem with Renee Marcus Janssen, Toine Moerbeek, and Lon Buttstedt, 2018
  • Affordable Art Fair Hampstead with the 508 Gallery, Chelsea, London, 2018,2019
  • People’s Choice Award, Royal Arts Prize Exhibition with Joint Winner Sculptor Wendy Freestone, La Galleria, Pall Mall, London, April 2019
  • Modern Artists Gallery Tropical Show with Paul Wright, Paul Kessling, Stuart Buchanan…2020
  • Gallerie Annee, Haarlem, the Netherlands, Winter Show with Marianne Benko, Peter de Graaff, Jan Aanstoot… 2020
  • Gallery 104, Manhatten, New York, February 2020
  • 508 Gallery, Summer Exhibtion, Chelsea, London 2020
  • The Landscape Meets the Portrait, Modern Artists Gallery, 3rd October-27th November 2020 including Stuart Buchanan, Paul Wright, Jana Muller, Paul Kessling, Angela Smith…
  • Spring Awakening 15th March-11 April 2021, London Paint Club
  • VAA International Online Art Exhibition, April – September 2021
  • Gallery 500ft Devon, Group Show, April 2021

Awards

  • International Prize Dante Alighieri, Peschiara del Garda, Italy 2017
  • International Award, Francisco Goya, Grand Theatre del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain 2017
  • Carravagio Award, Rome, 2017
  • Milan International Art Award with Vittorio Sgarbi, Marco Travaglio, Mona Ovadia,, 2017
  • Winner, People’s Choice Award with Sculptor Wendy Freestone, Royal Arts Prize, London 2018
  • Short Listed for The Visual Arts Open UK and International Art Award 2020

Teaching

  • 1997 – 1999 Julian Chichester Design, Vietnam