Sisters Junnel and Cleo Lewis to exhibit at Venice art fair

Sisters Junnel and Cleo Lewis will exhibit selected works in Venice, Italy, at the Canvas Venice International Art Fair from April 7-23.

“Art is the balancing of the equation,” said Junnel.

For over two decades, while working as an accountant in Trinidad and Tobago, Junnel has also been painting behind the scenes, with her younger sister, Cleo, who has a degree in mechanical engineering, taking to the canvas almost a decade after her.

A media release said Canvas is an international art fair that will present collective and solo projects by leading and emerging international artists. The 2023 edition will represent a forum for the direct exchange of ideas and contacts between collectors, artists, photographers, designers and art professionals. The art fair features paintings, sculptures, photography, installations, video art and live performance.

Although their work has already been featured at exhibitions outside the region, this is the first time the sisters will be accompanying their artwork to an international show.

“My sister and I are excited to showcase our work in Venice. I also want my pieces to be sold successfully,” said Cleo.

While the Ministry of Arts and Culture is partially funding the trip, the sisters have also been fundraising and selling their artwork to help raise the additional money that’s needed.

“For me, it’s a dream come true,” said Junnel, who hopes to open a door for other local artists to show their work in Italy. The sisters are the only artists from TT to be featured in this year’s show.

It consists of three main events – Bodyspaces (January / February), Mixing Identities (March) and Visions (April) – and the sisters were selected to exhibit at the third.

Itsliquid Group, Canvas event organiser, said in the release: “Visions aims to explore all different facets of the social, physical and cultural identities of our contemporary society. Every day we deal with a multitude of different identities and roles: we face the public life creating and adapting our social identities, our body and aesthetic tastes modify and are modified by our physical and sexual identities, our whole being evolves as well as contemporary cultures and modern cities do in order to create new compound and exchange possibilities for new 'liquid identities' in 'liquid cities.'”

The show takes place at the Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, a historical building dated back to the 16th century and one of the most known palaces of the Renaissance.

The sisters will each showcase two selected pieces. Cleo’s work leans towards realism, while Junnel’s work approaches impressionism more closely.

The sisters say continuous learning has led to a process of evolution in their work.

“If you compare our work now with two years ago, our paintings and drawings are not the same,” reflects Junnel, “We are actually changing how we see things.”

Cleo says she looked to other realism artists for inspiration, and then worked to create her own style.

Both women are active members of the Women in Art Organization and the Art Society of TT, and have been regularly exhibiting and selling their work locally and internationally since 2020.

The Lewis sisters aim to continuously improve their skills, seek out opportunities such as the Venice show, from which they hope to learn and build on, and also open doors for other local artists to gain access to international markets, the release said.

Canvas International Art Fair – Visions (Event 3), runs from April 7-24 at Palazzo Albrizzi-Capello, Venice, Italy.

For further info visit: https://lewis-art-collection.com