Curated by Tolla Duke Sloane                                     

Tonight the Air is Warm brings together a collection of vibrant and diverse photography, print and video works by eight established, mid-career and emerging artists from Southeast Asia. Curated by Tolla Duke Sloane, the show will occupy both the main and speakeasy space at Kristin Hjellegjerde’s London Bridge gallery, providing audiences the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the region’s artistic landscape. From the tropical gothic to the surrealism of dreams and folklore, and the reimagining of historical narratives, the artists’ reflect on universal issues relating to identity and belonging, whilst also providing heightened and imaginative insights into the cultural specifics of their geographical locations. 

Nicole Coson (b. 1992) is an artist raised in Manila and currently based in London. In 2014, she completed her studies in Fine Art graduating with first class honours from Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design. In the same year Coson was nominated for the Saatchi New Sensations Award. She also recently graduated with a MFA in Painting, from the Royal College of Art, London, UK. Coson works on a variety of media, focusing on painting and analogue printmaking techniques, often combining opposing materials and methods, such as digital languages and raw materials. Nicole Coson bases her work on the exploration of visibility and disappearance, combining the familiar and the alien, anonymous and personal. She aims to challenge the viewer to detect cultural precursors as memories, where identity and location blend into seamlessness constructing a space which is both familiar and alien, escapist and entrapping. Her solo exhibitions include Deflect, Galerie Untilthen, Paris, France (2019); Camouflage, Silverlens Galleries, Manila, Philippines (2017); Process of Elimination, Display Gallery, London, UK (2016); How to Appear Without a Trace II, Asia House, London, UK (2015); Ghost, Stamperia Del Tevere, Rome, Italy (2015); Untitled, Finale Art File, Makati City (2014); Spirit Captures, West Gallery, Quezon City (2013). 

Genevieve Chua was born in 1984 in Singapore. She studied painting at the Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore. In addition, in 2018 Chua graduated from the Royal College of Art, UK with a MA in painting and at the moment she continues to work and live between London and Singapore. Genevieve Chua’s art practice is predominantly rooted in abstraction. In her work, Chua often explores diagram, palimpsest, syntax, and the glitch as a way to reveal artist’s process. Chua’s artworks are often based on the subjects of nature and wilderness. In 2012 Genevieve Chua was conferred the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council, Singapore. Genevieve Chua’s solo exhibitions include Twofold, STPI, Singapore (2020); Closed during Opening Hours, Earl Lu Gallery ICA, Singapore (2019); Vestigials and Halves, 7 ½,Seoul (2017); Rehearsals for the Wilful, Silverlens Galleries, Manila (2016); Moths, Gallery EXIT, Hong Kong, (2015); Parabola, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Singapore (2014); Cicadas Cicadas, Gusford Gallery, Los Angeles (2014); Another Place, CCC Shizuoka, Japan (2011). 

Yee I-Lann was born in 1971 in Kota Kinabalu, Malasia and is currently based in Kuala Lumpur. She received a BA in Visual Arts from the University of South Australia in 1993. Yee I-Lann‘s primarily photomedia-based practice engages with archipelagic Southeast Asia’s turbulent history, addressing, with wit and humanity, the socio-political impact of current politics, neo-colonialism, and globalization. Yee has established herself over the past 20 years as one of the region's leading contemporary artists, known for her digital photocollage and video works that deftly employ a complex, multi-layered visual vocabulary drawn from historical references, popular culture, archives, and everyday objects – works that speculate on issues of culture, power, and the role of historical memory in social experience, often with particular focus on themes and motifs that reference the indigenous cultures of Borneo. Yee I-Lann’s solo exhibitions include Through Rose-Coloured Glasses, North Park Center, Dallas (2019); Like the Banana Tree At The Gate, MSAC Gallery, Taipei (2016); Yee I-Lann: Picturing Power, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York (2014); Fluid World, Contemporary Art Centre of South Australia (2011); Boogeyman, Black Box, MAP, Kuala Lumpur (2010). 

Wawi Navarozza was born in 1979 in Manila, Philippines where she currently lives and works. In 2002, Navarozza graduated with a BA in Communication Arts, with honours from De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines and in 2009 attended International Center of Photography in New York. In 2012 she completed her scholarship for the Eauropean Master of Fine Art Photography programme at the Istituto Europeo di Design-Madrid, Spain. Wawi Navarozza creates works across a wide range of media, but is primarily known for her use of photography in her art practice. The artist creates highly stylised photographs in which she investigates displacements, disorientation and discovery, reflecting on the exploration of a deeper sense of place and identity. Navarozza was awarded Kuala Lumpur International Photography Awards in 2018 and has widely exhibited her works in solo and group shows globally. Her solo exhibitions include Self-Portraits & The Tropical Gothic, Silverlens Galleries, Manila (2019); Medusa, Silverlens Galleries, Manila (2017); On Landscape & Some Dislocations, Galería Patrick Domken, Cadaqués, Spain (2012); When All Is Said And Done, Artesan Gallery, Singapore (2008); Saturnine: A Collection of Portraits, Creatures, Glass & Shadow, Silverlens, Manila / McDermott Gallery, Siem Reap, Cambodia / ArtReflex Gallery, Saint-Petersburg, Russia (2007); Polysaccharide: The Dollhouse Drama, Blacksoup Project Artspace, Manila / Ateneo Art Gallery, Manila / La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia (2005). 

Manit Sriwanichpoom was born in 1961 in Bangkok, Thailand where he is currently based. In 1984 Sriwanichpoom graduated with a BA in Visual Art from the Srinakharinvirot University, Bangkok, Thailand. Manit Sriwanichpoom is a multidisciplinary artist, creating artworks across photography, performance, video, and painting. His art addresses political and socio-economical issues facing his native Thailand. Sriwanichpoom’s most iconic works feature the artist’s friend and poet Sompong Thawee, “pink man”, and allude to uncomfortable issues of contemporary consumerist society. In 2014 French Ministry of Culture awarded Sriwanichpoom the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. In addition, in 2007 he was awarded Japan’s prestigious Higashikawa Overseas Photographer Prize. Manit’s work is held in important public collections, such as the collection of the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Maison Europeenen de la Photographie, France; the National Gallery of Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery, Australia; the National Gallery, Singapore; Vehbi Koc Foundation, Turkey; H&F Foundation, Netherlands; MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum, Thailand and Art Vantage, Israel Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. His solo shows include Shocking Pink Story, Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York, USA (2018); Lost, A+ Works of Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2018); Fear, Yavuz Gallery, Singapore (2016); Bangkok in Technicolor, Kathmandu Photo Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand (2014); Obscene, H Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand (2012); The Lambs of God, Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia (2008); Man in Pink, Galerie VU’, Paris, France (2007); Beijing Pink, Highland Gallery, Beijing, China (2006); Bangkok in Pink, the Gallery, Yokohama Museum of Art, Japan (2002).