Lina Iris Viktor's first major solo at Autograph London

Lina Iris Viktor's Some Are Born To Endless Night — Dark Matter is her major solo exhibition in the UK, at Autograph, London. The exhibition is a vast showcase displaying more than 60 of her artworks, ranging from sculpture, painting, photographic assemblage, to installation. Characterized by her ritualistic, signature use of pure 24-karat gold leaf, Viktor presents a cosmology exploring the dark matter: Blackness.

Viktor is an expansive artist whose works cover a wide range of source media and collaboration from photography to performance. The various ways she works, however, all flow into a concise deployment of her exploration of Blackness — its symbolism, its materiality, its color, and its provocative consciousness. To Viktor, black is the proverbial materia prima: the source, the dark matter that birthed everything. Much of her work includes depictions of her own body, a solo performance by the artist as she transverses through her meticulous landscape of study. Embellished with 24-karat gold leaf, visually crafted with textiles, and gilded using ancient techniques, the works seen in Some Are Born To Endless Night —Dark Matter are captivating.

Our studio has worked with Lina for many years, helping the artist transpose her photographic captures into prints ready for her continue working on top of. We helped Lina on the production and printing of her black and gold photographic flat works in the show, working virtually as she was based in Europe at the time. Preserving details in the skin and ensuring the patterns in the black backgrounds were areas of focus.

The exhibition overall was, unsurprisingly, magnificent and we're glad to have been able to experience the final works through captures. It is on view at Autograph through the new year until January 25th.

Exhibition photographs courtesy of Autograph, shot by Ben Reeves. All artwork courtesy of the artist, Lina Iris Viktor.