Words by Jessica Hartley
Galerie Deschler in Berlin will host the European Premiere of Sharon Stone’s solo exhibition ‘Totem’, on view from 17th February to 18th May, 2024. Stone’s exhibition at Galerie Deschler features 12 new abstract paintings, and during the exhibition’s opening weekend Cinema for Peace in Berlin will be honouring her contribution to cinema with several major events.
Stone achieved worldwide fame as an actress best known for starring roles in cult movie ‘Basic Instinct’ and her Oscar-nominated performance in Scorsese’s ‘Casino’, which won her a Golden Globe. Aside from her Hollywood career, Stone is a best-selling author and an accomplished artist who, inspired by her artist Aunt Vonne, studied art at college and returned to painting in later life during the COVID pandemic.
Stone is also an acclaimed author, and her 2021 book ‘The Beauty of Living Twice’ was a New York Times bestseller. Her memoir recounts the trauma of suffering a stroke, and the physical and mental effort it took to recover and rebuild her life in a business as notoriously cut throat as Hollywood.
The exhibition is titled ‘Totem’ in a reference to Stone’s strength, resilience and autonomy as a woman and a survivor. Stone’s abstract canvases have intriguing titles such as ‘Ghosts’, ‘The Lake’, ‘Portrait of my Boyfriends from Foreign Countries’ and ‘The Body’, and the images evoke the aura of a time and place from her multi-layered life, with recurring serpent-like motifs weaving across the canvas, perhaps as a metaphor for her ability to shape-shift, rebuild and move on.
“Totems often serve as monuments to resilience and strength. These paintings feel totemic to me. They communicate how my life can feel stacked in a certain way. My daily artmaking helps me fight my way out from under the weight of this alarming time we are all living through. It’s not about how we fall, it’s about how we get up. Wonder is the experience we want to live in,” adds Stone. “This exhibition came to me as a complete vision, from start to finish. Tapping into the female consciousness, my goal is to express ideas that are honest and authentic.” Sharon Stone
As well as channelling her creativity into acting, writing and painting, Stone is internationally recognized as a cultural leader, humanitarian and feminist icon, making her something of a Renaissance Woman. She was recently honored as “Global Citizen of the Year” by the United Nations Correspondents Association, an accolade which was presented by the U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Other honours include; the Women Making History Award from the National Women’s History Museum; the Einstein Spirit of Achievement Award; the Nobel Peace Summit Award Laureate; the Golden Globe Award; a Primetime Emmy Award; she was named a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France; the 2023 Courage Award; the Harvard Humanitarian Award; and the Human Rights Campaign Humanitarian Award, among her many accolades.
Stone’s art has received critical acclaim from prominent collectors and art world luminaries, including New York Magazine Senior Art Critic and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for criticism, Jerry Saltz, CNN Style’s Helen Stoilas and Dr. Martin Oskar Kramer, Art Historian at Galerie Deschler (Ph.D., Princeton University) who says: “Stone’s paintings exude a raw and spontaneously expressive quality, resulting from a shifting alchemy of chaos and structure. An expression of the feminine that is deeply in touch with natural forces and fundamentally untamable.”
“We are honored to present Sharon Stone’s compelling paintings in her first exhibition in Europe. I could always relate to her because I felt that she perfectly represented the values that have guided my own development: freedom, self-determination, and autonomy.” Marcus Deschler, Galerie Deschler
Sharon Stone ‘River’, 2022, Acrylic on Canvas, 183 x 244cm. Courtesy Galerie Deschler.
Sharon Stone: Totem is at Galerie Deschler in Berlin until 18th May, 2023: https://deschler-berlin.de/exhibitions/sharon-stone-totem/
