Two newly acquired artworks have gone on display at the Ferens Art Gallery in time for Christmas.
The Ferens Art Gallery has acquired two new contemporary artworks for its collection that appeared in the Sirens: Women and the Sea exhibition earlier this year.
Drift Ice by Emma Stibbon RA, made in 2014, courtesy of Cristea Roberts Gallery, and Madame La Sirene by Abe Odedina, made in 2024, courtesy of Ed Cross Fine Art, are now on display in gallery nine of the gallery.
Abe Odedina, born in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1960, studied Architecture in Hull before eventually becoming an internationally acclaimed artist. Odedina’s artworks blend elements of folk art, mythology, and everyday life. Drawing on different styles and periods of art from Renaissance portraiture to Pop Art, Odedina’s artwork tells diverse mythological stories from Yoruba, Haiti and Ancient Greece that explore the intersection of cultures and the carrying of traditions amongst communities.
Odedina says of his painting Madame La Sirene:
“A force of Nature, she signifies life and fertility within the ocean – its irresistible and sometimes destructive power – and owns all of its riches and mysteries.
“Rare are cultures that do not have legends of hybrid beings that are half-human and half-fish. They seem to speak powerfully to us, reminding us of our ancestral origins from ancient bodies of water, or even the waters of the womb.
“She has been richly nourished by irrepressible African, European and indigenous Taino stories of powerful water spirits, gaining extraordinary spiritual acumen from Mami Wata, whilst acquiring her name as well as her sweet but devasting singing voice from European mythology.”
Emma Stibbon, born in Munster, Germany in 1962 is a Royal Academician. Working primarily on paper, her work represents environments undergoing transition and change, She has held residencies all over the world, including at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation, Connecticut, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, held a placement in Antarctica organised by the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute. She has also participated in the Arctic Circle.org expedition to Svalbard in the High Arctic. Stibbon shows her work internationally.
Known for her arresting and large scale works on paper, Stibbon often combines the geology of her subject (volcanic ash, Sussex chalk, sea water) to evidence environmental change. Her work depicting UK land and seascapes focuses on coastal erosion from rising tides, while her work in the Arctic and Antarctic focuses on melting ice, including glaciers, icebergs and sea ice.
Over the past 20-years of visiting the Arctic and Antarctic Stibbon has experienced climate change first hand, observing the receding landscape of ice, and its transformation to land and sea. Working on site, Stibbon takes photographs but also makes drawings and quick paintings in her sketchbooks, before returning to her studio at Spike Island in Bristol, to work on large scale works on paper.
Commenting on the work, she said:
“I made ‘Drift Ice’ in 2014 shortly after being in Antarctica on a residency organised by the Friends of Scott Polar Research Institute and HMS Protector Artist Placement in Antarctica. Witnessing the drift ice from the ship was almost mirage like – passing through the strange, ethereal light I wanted to respond to the incredible wonder and beauty of Antarctica.
“My drawing ‘Drift Ice’ is part of an ongoing series of works looking at the polar regions, I want to pay homage to the world’s largest ice sheets and glaciers that now are at the forefront of climate change.”
Councillor Rob Pritchard, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said:
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to secure these two fantastic artworks for the Ferens’ collection using the Endowment Fund left for Hull by gallery founder Thomas Ferens.
“The early artworks he acquired for the people of Hull included maritime subjects such as Herbert James Draper’s iconic ‘Ulysses and the Sirens’ and have resulted in the creation of a Designated Maritime Art collection of local, national and international significance.
“We are very pleased to be able to add Emma Stibbon and Abe Odedina’s works to this, continuing the story of Maritime art and bringing fresh perspectives to the collection for the people of Hull to enjoy and engage with.”
Drift Ice and Madame La Sirene are now available to view at the Ferens. Find out more about the gallery including opening times here.