Sarabande presents Corpus Mentis (2021) 

For Season One of theVOV, Sarabande presents Corpus Mentis a group show of female artists co-curated by Hikari Yokoyama and Trino Verkade (2021).

Inside the digital space of theVOV we look at seven different creatives selected by Sarabande director Trino Verkade. A skeletal structure hangdog under draped fascia, a tensile net on bone. Oxygen-plump cells careening down billowy arterial tunnels. Pulsating cilia with their infinite tiny fingers waving along the interior caverns of organs. Bone ossifying from soft cartilage; growing hard as one material is replaced by another. Neurotransmitters emitting a steady stream of coded chemical signals. Skin filling with dark pigment to protect our outer cells from the sun – our bodies are a mysterious ecosystem of multifarious processes, all unfolding while we are barely conscious of what is happening.

Our body is an object, seen from the outside by others, both housing and embodying a set of beliefs that form our identities, our cultures, our race and our history. Our bodies are also our subjects: the locus of desire, of thought, of action.

Each creative’s work takes the body as a starting point for their practice, delving into the vagaries of corporeal existence – the body bearing the burden of cultural histories; the body as a house for invisible physical vulnerabilities; as a perfected intersection of strength and flexibility; as an armature for handknitted textural landscapes to form; as a site of powerful psychosocial healing; as a place to escape from into the digital fantasy; and the body as a vehicle for dipping into the digital realm. They all engage with the romantic notion of beauty - whether this be invoking the female power in a carved Congolese diviner, the motion of a sea anemone in water or the delicacy of Wedgwood porcelain. Aesthetics should shape human life and our understanding of ourselves. Through the beautifully crafted work of these seven creatives, we explore seven highly personal processes that use the body as a starting point.

Sarabande Foundation exists to support creative practices of artists, designers, makers, craftspeople whose work defies categorisation by genre. Eschewing the boundaries between art and design, concept and craft, aesthetics and function Sarabande embraces and supports young creatives by providing studio space, mentorship and scholarships to students at the graduate and post-graduate level in London.

Virtual Tour with Hikari Yokoyama

Join co-curator Hikari Yokoyama as they take us on a tour of Sarabande’s show Corpus Mentis (2021) acting as a lens by which the viewer can peer into the world of exhibiting artists.

Born in Tokyo and brought up in Chicago, Hikari Yokoyama studied at Columbia University. Working for gallerist and dealer Jeffrey Deitch, she became immersed in the art world, doing art advisory, independent curatorial projects, and commissioning artists. Starting the art news blog ArtObserved, and later joining Alexander Gilkes and Aditya Julka  in a plan to revolutionse the art world through the internet, Paddle8 was successfully launched.

Moving to London with her now-fiancé Jay Jopling, Hikari began consulting for Audi, Prada, Miu Miu, Bombay Sapphire, Gucci, Tiffany & Co, Spring Studios, Caprice Holdings and others. Currently a contributing editor at British Vogue under editor Edward Enninful, Hikari uses her background in art and the digital sphere to create audiences through cultural experiences, and is passionate about social entrepreneurship, particularly in empowering women.

Avatar Life Drawing Workshop with artists Shannon Bono and Auroboros

An Evening with Sarabande x theVOV: Avatar Life Drawing Workshop with Shannon Bono and Auroboros.

In partnership with theVOV, Sarabande invites you to the first online life drawing class with an avatar! Led by artist Shannon Bono, you’ll escape to an Auroboros designed virtual landscape for a one-time-only live event. The ultimate blend of physical and digital, art and fashion, you’ll have the opportunity to navigate the 3D space and experience a world that could never exist in reality.