Daniel Raphael Gallery, London, is proud to present The Artificial Now, a powerful and vibrant joint exhibition of new photographic works by renowned artist Carolina Mizrahi, alongside new paintings by abstract artist Morgan Ward.

Brazilian artist Mizrahi will be showcasing celebrated retrospective works placing emphasis on her latest series, while Ward has created a series of new works specifically for the show. The complementary works are thematically linked through their use of colour and construction. The suggestiveness and manner in which both collections are fashioned further lends to the undercurrents of artificiality that run throughout the show.

To coincide with the release of her latest collection, The Farewell Party, acclaimed artist Carolina Mizrahi has created a series of striking and immersive installations that breathe additional life into these dark and sensual works. Her work explores femininity and sexuality in bold photographic form, working with a palette of complementary colour for each series. Flowers, insects and fruit all combine, coalesce and decay in this stunning and gothic collection of works. In The Farewell Party 5, a ripe pomegranate spills open against a muted magenta backdrop, exposing its seeded flesh which drips decadently onto a delicately budding branch. Insects worm their way up a plinth in search of an abundant feast while an ashtray in the foreground suggests a darkness to this metaphorical bounty.

Mizrahi was born in 1982 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, and currently lives and works in London. She graduated with a BA in Fashion Photography and Styling from the London College of Fashion in 2013 and since then has seen success both artistically and commercially. Her work has featured widely in the international fashion press, including Vogue and Elle.

The relationships between colour and form drive Morgan Ward’s paintings. The artist looks at how these communicate and inform, with the expansion of space both physically and in abstract, the work addresses in part how the illusion of a two-dimensional canvas surface can depict a three-dimensional space to the viewer. Ward’s work derives from multiple preliminary works, sketches, oil pastel studies, and collages with influences in Minimalism and Colour Field Painting. The construction of collages builds the foundations of the distinct flat planes of each painting, expansive space, and colour. Key influences from Matisse and Ellsworth Kelly, manipulation and control of line, alongside readings of Michael Fried – Art and Objecthood, link to the physical material of oil paint. Ward was recently awarded It’s Nice That’s Graduate Prize 2017.

Curator and gallery owner Daniel Levy says: “This show marks an exciting move for the gallery, using the space itself as part of an immersive installation. Bringing the works of these two fresh talents together in a complementary show and sensory overload is part of what we’re all about.”