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Chantal Joffe (born 5 October 1969) is an American-born English artist based in London.Royal Academy of Arts
Chantal Joffe RA Elect , Artist , Royal Academy of Arts
accessdate: 29/08/2014
Her often large-scale paintings generally depict women and children. In 2006, she received the prestigious Charles Wollaston Award from the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
.


Life and education

Chantal Joffe was born in St. Albans, Vermont, USA. Her younger brother is the contemporary artist and novelist Jasper Joffe. Their mother, Daryll Joffe, is also an artist, painting in watercolours. Joffe completed her Foundation studies at Camberwell College of Arts (1987–88). She attended
Glasgow School of Art The Glasgow School of Art (GSA; ) is a higher education art school based in Glasgow, Scotland, offering undergraduate degrees, post-graduate awards (both taught and research-led), and PhDs in architecture, fine art, and design. These are all awa ...
in 1988–91, graduating with honours and receiving her BA in Fine Art. She received her MA in painting from the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
, which she attended from 1992–94. She was honoured with the Delfina Studio Trust Award in 1994–96 and the Abbey Scholarship (British School at Rome) in 1998–99. Joffe lives in London.


Work

Joffe primarily paints expressive portraits of women and children, often in very large scale, sometimes tall. She has painted her own mother repeatedly, for over 30 years. In a 2009 interview with Stella McCartney, Joffe said, "I really love painting women. Their bodies, their clothes – it all interests me." Source images for her personality-filled oil paintings include family photos, advertising, fashion magazines, and pornography. Working roughly from her photographic source material, Joffe introduces distortions to her depictions. In the McCartney interview, Joffe mentions the photography of Diane Arbus as an inspiration for her art: "I find photography massively influential. Specifically, Diane Arbus, who I've been obsessed with my whole life. Her work has everything about the portrait of a human that you can ever want." A critic for ''
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'' has said of her "big rude paintings" that "she paints with a kind of easy control – effortless without being slick." He further points out that her paintings may give an initial impression of simplicity, charm, or childishness, but "they have an unsettling quality which gives the exhibition an odd, rather menacing mood." Some of her paintings are so large that she required
scaffolding Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other human-made structures. Scaffolds are widely u ...
to work on them. Painting in huge, unfussy brushstrokes, she is unconcerned with stray drips and blobs of paint, and sometimes leaves old outlines visible. A reviewer noted that "painting the heads up close also makes for large, wonky eyes and odd proportions, like Picasso re-invented in manga." In 2006, Colette Meacher, editor of the British magazine ''Latest Art'', described Joffe's large paintings as "simply exquisite representations of femininity". Joffe often draws inspiration from fashion models, “photos of friends, the work of other artists” and images of women and children in realistic poses. Joffe’s work is reminiscent of Alice Neel, with whom she was teamed up for an art show and
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
, the Canadian singer, songwriter and figurative artist. This group of artists are known for feminist messages in their work.


Exhibitions and collections

Chantal Joffe's work has shown internationally in many exhibitions. She has had solo exhibitions in London,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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and
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. Her work has also been featured in many group exhibitions. In 2002, she participated in an exhibition entitled ''The Bold and The Beautiful'', at The Pavilions,
Mile End Park Mile End Park is a park located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a linear park of some , and was created on industrial land devastated by World War II bombing, with the park lying on land to the east of the Regent's Canal. In the n ...
in London. This show marked the first time Chantal, her mother Daryll Joffe, and her brother Jasper Joffe were featured in an exhibit together. She won the £25,000 Charles Wollaston Award in the 2006
Royal Academy summer exhibition The Summer Exhibition is an open art exhibition held annually by the Royal Academy in Burlington House, Piccadilly in central London, England, during the months of June, July, and August. The exhibition includes paintings, prints, drawings, sc ...
, for the "most distinguished work in the exhibition". The winning painting was ''Blond Girl – Black Dress''. The judges praised the painting as "an incredibly strong and striking painting ... There was no debate about the winner, the decision was reached unanimously." Joffe has been featured in exhibitions at the
Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...
in New York City, including ''Using Walls, Floors, and Ceilings: Chantal Joffe'' in 2015 and ''Scenes from the Collection'' in 2019. Joffe's work was included in the 2022 exhibition ''Women Painting Women'' at the
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth (widely referred to as The Modern) is an art museum of post-World War II art in Fort Worth, Texas with a collection of international modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1892, The Modern is located in the c ...
. Joffe's work is in the collections of The New Art Gallery, Walsall, Saatchi Gallery (
London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
), Berardo Collection Museum (
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), Museo Arte Contemporanea Isernia (
Isernia Isernia () is a town and ''comune'' in the southern Italian region of Molise, and the capital of the province of Isernia. Geography Situated on a rocky crest rising from between the Carpino and the Sordo rivers, the plan of Isernia still refl ...
, Italy), Museo d'Arte Classica ( Zola Predosa, Italy), the
Jewish Museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...
(New York, USA), and The West Collection ( Oaks, Pennsylvania). She is represented by the
Victoria Miro Gallery The Victoria Miro Gallery is a British contemporary art gallery in London, run by Victoria Miro. Miro opened her first gallery in 1985 in Cork Street, before moving to larger premises in Islington in 2000 and later opening a second space in St ...
in London and Galleria Monica De Cardenas in
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
and Zuoz. UK public collections featuring her work include The New Art Gallery, Walsall Arts Council Collection,
Government Art Collection The Government Art Collection (GAC) is the collection of artworks owned by the UK government and administered by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). The GAC's artworks are used to decorate major government buildings in the UK and ...
, Jerwood Collection,
Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
and Royal College of Art.


Awards

Joffe has received numerous awards and recognitions, including: * Nat West 90’s Prize for Art; John Kinross Memorial Scholarship (1991) * Elizabeth Greenshields Award; Paris Studio Award, Royal College of Art (1993) * Delfina Studio Trust Award (1994–1996) * Abbey Scholarship, the
British School at Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is a British interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture established in Rome. Historical and archaeological study are at the core of its activities. History The British Sc ...
(1998–1999) * The Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition’s Wollaston Award (2006)


References


External links

*
Saatchi Gallery: Chantal JoffeVictoria Miro: Chantel Joffe


{{DEFAULTSORT:Joffe, Chantal 1969 births Living people 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists 20th-century English women artists 21st-century English women artists Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts Alumni of the Glasgow School of Art Alumni of the Royal College of Art British contemporary painters English contemporary artists English women painters Painters from London People from St. Albans, Vermont Royal Academicians Sibling artists