Anya Gallaccio returned to Jupiter Artland with her second gallery installation Stroke. This exhibition followed the dramatic Red on Green, the artists first gallery installation at Jupiter Artland where ten thousand fragrant English red roses were laid as a carpet on the gallery floor and left to slowly rot and wither over the course of the summer in 2012.

For Spring 2014 the artist installed Stroke, an extraordinary installation which assaults the senses. The entire room was covered in thick dark chocolate, lightly scented if not overwhelming. The desire to interact by picking, licking or stroking the chocolate covered walls is almost compulsive. What is beautiful, as so often in this artist’s practice, becomes putrid and decayed.

This exhibition was sponsored by the Chocolate Trading Company.

Biography

Anya Gallaccio (b.1963, Paisley, Scotland) lives and works in London and San Diego. She grew up in South West London and studied at Kingston Polytechnic and Goldsmiths’ College. She is renowned for her innovative use of organic, ephemeral materials – ranging from chocolate, ice, wax, apples, flowers and chalk – and for her explorations of transformation, change and impermanence. Throughout her practice, Gallaccio has significantly reshaped understandings of contemporary sculpture.

Gallaccio has exhibited extensively both in the UK and internationally, including solo exhibitions at the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh (2019); Lindisfarne Castle, National Trust, Berwick-upon-Tweed (2018); The Contemporary Austin, Austin, TX (2017); Whitworth Gallery, Manchester (2016); Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, San Diego (2015); Camden Art Centre, London (2008); Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2009); Sculpture Center, New York (2006); Ikon, Birmingham (2003); Tate Britain, London (2003) amongst others. She was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2003. In June 2024 she was announced as the winner of the commission to create The AIDS Memorial in London. In September 2024 a major retrospective of her work opened at Turner Contemporary, Margate. Gallaccio’s work is featured in numerous public and private collections such as the Tate Gallery, London; the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; and South London Gallery, London.