Much like rhizomatic structures, Bachlitzanaki, Bono and Langley’s work appears to have no end points; bold, unapologetic yet tender, it emerges as a material expression of consciousness with a pared-down linearity that connects the internal with the external and defines a space that allows for individuality and belonging, rootedness and growth.
Inspired by material culture, artisanal traditions, nature and the biographies of objects, Irini Bachlitzanaki builds upon re-contextualising recognisable forms to examine our relationship with the world around us and ourselves. Within a practice that is primarily sculptural she plays with two and three-dimensionality and explores the object as image, signifier and continuation of the body and the self.
Shannon Bono’s paintings embody an afrofemcentrist consciousness, sharing muted narratives and projecting black women’s lived experiences. She is invested in producing layered, figurative, compositions embedded with symbols and scientific metaphors that centralise black womanhood as a source of knowledge and understanding.
Thomas Langley works within an interdisciplinary practice that includes painting, sculpture, drawing and installation. Through a lens that is often self-referential he is keen to explore universal themes in the human and artistic condition and the concept of what he describes as material thought, how consciousness makes its way into an object or a work of art.
In botany, a rhizome, from the Greek ρίζωμα (rhizoma, meaning taking root) is a subterranean plant stem that has the ability to grow roots and shoots in multiple directions. The word is also associated with C.G. Jung who used it as a metaphor for a perennial essence and post-modern theorists Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari who used the term to describe a heterogenous, non-binary mode of existence that does not come from a single point of origin and has no end.
About the artists
Irini Bachlitzanaki (b. 1984). Originally from Athens, Bachlitzanaki currently lives and works between London and Athens. With a background in History of Art and Fine Art, earned from the Royal Academy Schools in 2021. Her first UK solo show “The Combination Show” was presented at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge in 2021.
This is the second collaboration for the artist with IONE & MANN, who presented “Our Home, This Mortal Coil” in London, in 2021.
Shannon Bono (b.1995). Born and based in London, Bono opened her debut solo exhibition “The Hands that Hold You”, at Anderson Contemporary in London, in 2021.
Alongside exhibitions and projects, Bono has participated in a few residencies and her work has been displayed worldwide, passing from London and New York. Bono has also been featured in several notorious art magazines. Alongside her practice, Bono is an Associate Lecturer at Central Saint Martins and Camberwell College of Arts.
Thomas Langley (b.1986). Currently working between Lisbon and London, the London-born artist has a background in Fine Art, lastly graduating from the Royal Academy Schools in 2018. Langley has an impressive number of solo shows to his name since completing his post graduate studies starting with Plastic Factory (No place for me) which he presented concurrently with his degree show at the Royal Academy Schools.
Together with solo exhibitions, Langley has participated in notable group exhibitions.
