Artio Magazine Issue 10 /2025 by artiogallery

ART IO

THE ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE

Director/Curator in Chief

Bisa Bennett

An accomplished and experienced artist herself, Bisa Bennett understands the importance of creating meaningful opportunities for artists to exhibit their work. As a curator and multimedia designer, she is also well-versed in creating engaging opportunities for viewers to experience art. “At our gallery, our vision is to serve as a dynamic and inclusive platform that fosters connections between artists and art enthusiasts, nurturing a vibrant and diverse artistic community,” she explains.

Cover Photo Artist: Karaya

Instagram: artio.art.gallery

Email: exhibit@artiogallery.com

4 YI ZHU INTERVIEW

24 WOMEN ARTISTS AND THE ART MARKET

32 REPRESENTED ARTISTS

Disrespectful intrusion No.07 / Oil on canvas / 60 x 80 cm

DECONSTRUCTING MATTER: RECONSTRUCTING SPIRIT

Deconstructing Matter: Reconstructing Spirit

By deconstructing matter, I seek to reconstruct rigid structural spaces and rethink image language, visual perception, and image awareness at the spiritual level.

- Yi Zhu

Witha background in printmaking, illustration, and commercial design, artist

Yi Zhu has honed his practice against the backdrop of profound social and economic changes in his native China. It is within this context that he has created a distinctive visual language and conceptual approach. Seeking to express the myriad emotions that define the interrelationship between humans, species, and space, Zhu formulated a creative philosophy founded on destruction and reconstruction. In his work, the artist deconstructs subjects, objects, and matter into abstract forms, distilling their emotion and spirit. His paintings interrogate our perception, encouraging the viewer to look at the world anew.

My world and this world No.01 / Oil on canvas 76 x 100 cm

Zhu’s work traces rich cultural influences, from the painted pottery patterns of the Majiayao culture in the upper reaches of China’s Yellow River to the ancient Chinese art of paper-cutting. Works such as Construct a State of Mind reference the totem and pottery culture of ancient China. While paintings such as Disrespectful Intrusion, with their abstracted bodies and deconstructed portraiture, are reminiscent of Picasso’s Cubist faces. In Zhu’s work, vibrant colour, expressive bodily forms, organic shapes, and distorted anatomy dance across the canvas in dynamic compositions.

The artist describes his process as structured in three parts. Firstly, Zhu explores and creates symbols that represent the tension and force of life. This initial step of establishing a language of images is followed by the construction of relationships between colours using points, lines, and planes. The artist describes this phase as the establishment of visual perception. Finally, Zhu considers what to convey, and to whom, in what he terms the final image perception.

Red cloth No.01 / oil on canvas / 80 x 100 cm

Zhu’s expressive figurative deconstructions and abstractions are brimming with energy and emotion. He explains, “By deconstructing material reality and reimagining it from a spiritual perspective, I hope my visual works serve as a bridge between the tangible and the intangible, guiding viewers to explore new dimensions of existence and redefine their understanding of the inherent complexity of life.”

The emotion of desire / oil on canvas / 60 x 80 cm

Olympic Flame / white cardboard, red gouache, fineliner: Sacura

Pigma Micro, Stabilo

AGNIESZKA NIEMIEC

Agnieszka Niemiec, also known as AgnesN, creates meticulously detailed idiosyncratic imagery. The graphic artist combines traditional graphic techniques such as stencils, stamps, and frottage with fine line work in gouache and acrylic. Each piece begins with a moment of silence, meditation, or prayer, from which Agnes N’s intuitive process emerges. The artist has worked on the restoration of monuments, including castles and churches, throughout Poland. Her unique background in restoration and conservation informs a deep respect for history, craftsmanship, and detail. Works such as Border I and Olympic Flame encapsulate the artist’s ability to create abstract narratives with symbolic meaning, alluding to historical events, physical borders, and emotional boundaries. Originally from Poland, AgnesN lives and works in the Netherlands.

Border II / white cardboard, Sakura Pigma Micron marker

Border I / white cardboard, Sakura Pigma Micron marker

CARLOS ABRAHAM

CarlosAbraham’s photographic practice celebrates the beauty, representation, and symbolic power of the human body. Caracol 1 is an image imbued with strength and resilience. The body is decorated with symbolic markings that allude to spiritual, ancestral, and cultural power. In David Puerto, a muscular male figure references classical depictions of the human form. Facing a highly decorated, ornate doorway, the naturalistic figure is juxtaposed against the imposing architectural façade. The image suggests both strength and vulnerability, history and the present. Abraham’s photographs are part of the permanent collection at the National Photo Library of the INAH in Pachuca, Mexico. His work has been recognized internationally, including as a single image winner at Black & White 2022, an honorable mention in the 15th Fashion Color Awards, and

Caracol 1 / digital print on photo paper / 50 X 68cm

David puerta / digital print on photo paper / 50 X 68cm

HARRY BAUER

Established artist Harry Bauer has been honing his distinctive practice for over thirty years. Inspired by abstract masters such as Jean Fautrier, Antoni Tàpies, and Jackson Pollock, the artist takes his place within a rich lineage of Art Informel and gestural, improvisatory artists. Working with materials such as corrugated cardboard, wallpaper, rust, and bitumen, Bauer creates works of intense tactility, texture, and depth. His large-scale paintings are imbued with vibrant, dynamic colours and layered sculptural surfaces. Capturing light, pattern, emotion, and movement, Bauer’s paintings are immersive, powerful, and elemental. Like windows into other worlds, they demand our attention. As the artist explains, “In an increasingly digital world, my work asserts the physical presence of art.”

NoTitle / Acrylic on canvas, cardboard, paper / 200 x 100 cm

Multidisciplinary

artist and photographer Petra Ljutic is drawn to the liminal, to in-between spaces that embody presence and absence. Images such as Where the Mountains Meet the Sea, Deep Blue, and Quiet Eternity depict vast, sublime landscapes and moments of tranquil beauty. The azure blue waters, floating clouds, and monumental mountains of Ljutic’s work bring the viewer into contact with the elemental power of nature. Capturing the interplay of light and shadow, the artist’s work has a restive meditative quality. Her creative process involves the exploration of people, places, and nature, resulting in images that tell global stories of beauty, transformation, decay, spiritual awakening, and human experience.

Quiet Eternity / photography / 40 x 60 cm

PETRA LJUTIC

Azure Dream / photography / 40 x 60 cm

ALEXANDRA ROTAR

Alexandra

Rotar, a visual artist and architect from Brașov, Romania, creates paintings that explore the connection between people and the spaces they inhabit. In Between Hands, she captures an everyday gesture with quiet intensity, focusing on texture, light, and atmosphere. Her background in architecture shapes her balanced compositions, where figures and objects are treated with equal care. Rotar’s style emphasizes how memory and presence can be felt not only through the body but also through the simple things it touches and leaves behind.

Echoes of Stillness / Oil on canvas / 50 X 60 cm

Liminal Space / Oil on canvas / 60 x 50 cm

Women Artists and the Art Market

In1989 the radical art collective The Guerilla Girls created one of their now famous artworks entitled ‘Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?’ The piece, a large billboard-style poster that appeared on the side of New York City buses, commented on the distinct lack of work by living contemporary female artists in one of America’s most hallowed institutions. In 2015 the collective returned to this subject in the work ‘How Many Women Had One-person Exhibitions At NYC Museums Last Year?’ The piece made a side-by-side comparison between female solo shows in 1985 and female solo shows in 2015. The answer is not as many as you might think, with only a single show in each major museum (the Guggenheim, Whitney, and Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art) and two shows at MoMA. Just one more show than in 1985. Not much advancement in 30 years. Such large public institutions are a barometer for understanding the art market and how art is valued. In the year 2024, how is art by female artists valued and represented by the art market? Artio explores this question and looks forward to September and the London Women in Art Biennale.

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Artsy published ‘The Women Artists Market Report 2024’ to examine the position of female artists in the context of the commercial art market. Using data Artsy-specific data, the report explored trends in terms of sales enquiries and shone a light on the in-demand female artists gaining traction in the art market. Artsy found that when looking at sales enquiries on their site for 2023, only 25% of enquiries were for artworks by female-identifying artists. However, when they narrowed the data down to ultra-contemporary artists (artists born

in or after 1975) 35% of inquiries were for works by female artists. When narrowing the data set further to Gen Z artists (born after 1977) the number of works by female artists rose to 51%. Suggesting that in the context of younger artists, commercial interest is more equitable in terms of gender. Artsy also traced a distinct year-on-year growth in commercial enquiries and followers for certain female-identifying artists represented by Artsy. While the report documented significant developments in terms of female artists gaining commercial attention in a traditionally male-dominated art ecosystem, the majority of those artists documented were white and Western. The report identified a need for greater diversity and further investigation into the position of non-binary gendered artists in the art market.

In January of this year, Karina Tsui wrote in Semafor “Art by women is soaring in value as buyers seek to rewrite history.” Referencing an Artnet article comparing data on the annual auction revenue of 500 leading artists in 2023 and 2022, Tsui describes a shift in the auction market as older male fixtures, such as Andy Warhol and Frances Bacon declined in the auction rankings. While works by late female artists such as Barbara Hepworth and Lee Krasner were acquired by museums seeking to reevaluate institutional art historical biases. Tsui also remarks on the rise of African female artists in the auction rankings and an increase in women being appointed to senior positions in the art world. For example, in 2023, Mariët Westermann took the role of Director and CEO of the Guggenheim, the first ever woman to hold this position.

More recently in in March of this year, Charlotte Burns asked, “Why is the art industry

still failing women and what needs to be done?” In her article for Art Basel, Burns suggests that despite some moments of progress there is much to be done in terms of institutional gender parity and that “Affording female artists the time, space, and economic freedom to make their own work remains a radical act.” An act so historically rare, that only 1% of the National Gallery’s collection in London is made up of female artists.

It is clear that in the museum world and commercial art market, the position of women artists is a contested and complicated one. Indeed, The Guerilla Girls continue to perform their radical acts of conceptual art to expose sexism and racism in the art market and the world at large. One of their strategies is to expose the invisibility of women in traditional institutional and cultural structures of power.

The conversation about the role of female artists in the art world is an essential and ongoing one. In September of this year, The London Women in Art Biennale will contribute to this conversation by bringing together established and emerging female artists working across all media. Over 200 artists from over 50 countries will exhibit their work in London’s Chelsea Old Town Hall, presenting a truly global art of female artistic visibility. ■

ALEXANDRA GOREV

Between the Human and the Uncanny

Alexandra Gorev, a German neo-surrealist painter, draws on the Japanese concept of ayashii—the blend of beauty and unease—to shape her visual language. Working in oil, she combines classical technique with contemporary questions around identity and technology.

In WIR, a humanoid figure begins to fracture, its gaze confronting the viewer with the fragility of what was meant to be flawless. Blurring the line between human and machine, Gorev reflects on impermanence and shared existence, suggesting that even the most advanced creations cannot escape decline.

WIR / Oil on canvas / 100 x 80 cm

DANIELLE COWDREY

Nature Reimagined in Neon

DanielleCowdrey, a U.S.-based painter, transforms the natural world through an electrified lens. Her practice merges flora, fauna, and mythic imagination, using saturated palettes and layered textures to create environments that are both familiar and fantastical.

In works such as Neon Peonies, Wooly Mammoth, and Neon Depths, Cowdrey reinterprets delicate blooms, prehistoric giants, and oceanic life with radiant intensity. The result is a visual language where fragility meets resilience, and the organic becomes luminous. Her style is defined by its ability to reframe nature—at once celebratory, surreal, and deeply alive.

The sun in the water and the three of me / Photography, Mixed media / 30 X 30 cm

Cellular Nebula / Enamels painting on glazed ceramic tiles / 80 x 60 cm cm

AURORE MONTEIL

Energies in Matter

French artist and architect Aurore Monteil bridges craft, architecture, and the spiritual in her practice, moving fluidly between Paris and Lisbon. Specializing in hand-painted azulejos and multi-technique ceramic works, she treats material not just as surface but as a vessel for energy, vibration, and perception.

In pieces such as Nathalie’s Aura, Stranger’s Aura, Ethereal Symphony, and Cellular Nebula, Monteil translates invisible fields into color, pattern, and fractal forms. Each work operates like an energetic portrait or landscape, revealing the interplay of body, soul, and frequency. Structured by grids yet expansive in feeling, her style balances discipline with intuitive flow.

Her work asks viewers to consider how matter carries resonance — how color, geometry, and rhythm can alter our experience of space and self. Rooted in both ancestral craft and experimental research, Monteil’s practice opens portals to what usually remains unseen, offering a sensory journey between the microscopic and the cosmic.

Light,

Shadow, and Transience

BottaFine Art Print, an Italian artist based in Hungary, works across digital and analog photography, exploring the quiet poetics of light and shadow. Her images focus on flowers, landscapes, and elemental forms, where simplicity becomes a vessel for emotion.

In works such as The Promise of Bloom, Light’s Edge, Summit of Silence, and Rooted in Light, Botta transforms stillness into resonance. A mountain peak, a calla lily, an unopened flower, or a cactus in slanted light become meditations on fragility and endurance. Her style is marked by clarity, restraint, and a sensitivity to the beauty of transience.

BOTTA FINE ART PRINT

Octavius The Octopus / Oil On Canvas / 50 x 50 cm

ERIN ROCKWOOD:

Energy in Texture

Florida-based artist Erin Rockwood is self-taught, working exclusively with palette knives and thick layers of oil paint in the impasto technique. Her approach creates three-dimensional surfaces that pulse with energy and movement, turning her canvases into tactile experiences. Inspired by the nature around her—gardens, ocean life, and the creatures she encounters—Rockwood translates this vibrancy into bold color and layered depth.

In Feathers of Joyfulness (Francesca the Flamingo) and Octavius the Octopus, Rockwood channels her fascination with balance, beauty, and adaptability. The flamingo radiates joy and harmony through its luminous plumage, while the octopus, painted as a multi-directional piece, celebrates transformation and resilience. Her style invites both visual and physical engagement, embodying wonder and a deep connection to the natural world.

Nina - Veil of Duality / Oil on tracing paper / 120 x 100 cm

FANGYOU BELLELI:

Capturing Presence

Paris-based artist Fangyou Belleli paints portraits and nude studies that focus on presence in the moment. Working quickly in oil on tracing paper, often completing a piece in 5 to 20 minutes, she captures the energy of gesture rather than a fixed likeness.

In Nina – Veil of Duality and Coralie – Inward Light, the figures are shown in states of intensity and reflection. Belleli’s loose, expressive brushwork gives them a sense of immediacy—alive, shifting, and never static. Her style emphasizes the vitality of the human figure, where each mark feels like a trace of breath and movement.

MEAM

ARTIO GALLERY

at the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona, Spain.

Septmber 19-21, 2025

Opening reception: September 18, at 6pm.