Understanding Nothing Collage

Maria Rivans is a contemporary British artist, known for her scrapbook-style collage aesthetic. A mash-up of Surrealism meets Pop-Art, Rivans’s work re-appropriates vintage ephemera to create dreamy realms, which transport the viewer into fantastical worlds of the imaginary, each one suffused with vivid colour, arresting imagery, intricate detail, and finished with a dusting of subtle humour. Rivans’ artwork is known for its unique approach to collaging. Intertwining different film and TV genres - from vintage Hollywood, to 1970s sci-fi, B-movies and TV trash - Rivans’ work is in a constant dialogue with cultures of the past, reinventing existing film plots and narratives, while spinning bizarre and dreamlike tales. Her use of collage reflects the complex and fragmented world from which the art arises, but an attention to beauty and to harmony of composition gestures optimistically towards the social capacity to piece it back together again. In her pin-up series, Rivans reclaims iconic femininity to champion female strength; her exotic and escapist works are often laced with ominous undertones, to remind us of the darker side of human nature; utopian imagery from 1950s pop-culture speaks to today’s obsession with consumerism; while a persistent love of sci-fi illustrates the fact that Rivans’ work is always a meditation on the greater question of ‘life, the universe, and everything’. Rivans’ work takes the form of both large-scale originals and limited edition prints, and notable series’ have included: pin-ups; landscapes; film stills; and 3D box collages. Maria works from her studio in Brighton: a kooky building, purpose built as a small cinema in 1911. She exhibits work throughout the UK as well as internationally, including Hong Kong, New York and across Europe. Notable solo shows include the Saatchi Gallery, London, and Galerie Bhak, Seoul. Her pin-up portrait ‘Lady Valentina’ is used as the campaign image for both the London and Milan affordable art fairs; ‘Carina’, the face of the Scoop International Fashion Show at Saatchi for 2015; and ‘Scarlett’ heads the Nordea Private Banking campaign for Stockholm Affordable Art Fair. In 2015, Rivans was invited to show at Christies, London, for their ‘Out of the Ordinary’ sale; in 2017, her work featured in The Times newspaper; and, in 2018, her Film Still ‘Understanding Nothing’ was selected for the Royal Academy’s 250th Summer Exhibition.