Experience a powerful new series by British artist Ru Knox , exploring ballet and the passage of time, curated by Zavier Ellis and presented by Guerin Projects founder Marie-Claudine Llamas in the Solo Contemporary section of the British Art Fair from 25th until 28th September 2025, at Saatchi Gallery.
Guerin Projects founder Marie-Claudine Llamas is presenting a curated selection of new works by Ru Knox at British Art Fair. This new body of work by British artist Ru Knox focuses and describes with great beauty the movements made by ballerinas, their gestures becoming allegories to the passing of time and the ethereality of life. The works are ephemeral in their subject matter, but grounded in history, referencing Wassily Kandinsky’s (1866-1944) “Concerning the Spiritual in Art”, and the inner meaning of motion which led to the birth of abstraction: “The inner value of each movement will soon be felt, as the inner beauty replaces the sensuous aspect. Thus, ‘ugly’ movements suddenly appear beautiful, from which an undreamed power and vital force will burst forth instantly. This will start the dance of the future.”
Ru’s works also reference Degas’s famous impressionist renditions of young ballerinas, bathed in Impressionism, those works were a crucial part of early Modernism, the understanding of space, and the recollections of nostalgic narration.
In his most recent body of work, Ru Knox uses dance to articulate composition, his brush creates the liaisons between the movements of the medium, orchestrated by the artist, conductor of the paint.” MC Llamas
One could associate Ru’s paintings to movements and ethos created by choreographer Martha Graham, named by TIME magazine as “Dancer of the Century.” Graham created 181 ballets and a dance technique that has been compared to ballet in its scope and magnitude. Her approach to dance and theatre revolutionized the art form, and she built a vocabulary of movement that would “increase the emotional activity of the dancer’s body” and expose the depths of human emotion through movement.
“Dance followed the path of modern painting and architecture, rejecting pure decorativism. Dance does not have to be ‘graceful’, but true.” Martha Graham – Blood Memory (1991)
Ru has a rare and potent emotional expression which has culminated from years of imaginative experimentation with various painting techniques and textures. His Florentine observational precision and handling of the paint, textures and forms capture the psychology and immortalise the souls of his sitters.
Ru’s works are expeditions into our common and universal subconscious, moments and experiences which we share, but cannot be shared. Our dreams are the only things that belong solely to ourselves. These otherwise innocuous abstracts give way to a complex and fraught inner emotional life.
“This series deepens my ongoing exploration of the liminal states between waking and sleep–the hypnagogic and hypnopompic moments where perception becomes fluid and the boundaries between reality and dream dissolve.” Ru Knox
Building on past inquiries into the relationship between music and visual form, these paintings introduce the human body as a vessel of expression–figures rendered as sculptural, faceted forms that suggest movement, dance, and physical memory. Gesture, posture, and motion act as visual echoes of sound and emotion, weaving the senses together.
The figures appear as if seen from multiple angles at once, embodying a sense of presence and inviting kinaesthetic engagement. This sculptural approach shifts perspective and allows viewers to move imaginatively around and through the work. Ambiguity remains vital in my practice, creating space for viewers to bring their own associations and inner landscapes to the experience. These works are invitations to feel rather than decipher and to listen to the movement of form.”
Ru’s artistic practice investigates the notion of a universal subconscious, and he explores transient moments that we share but cannot be shared. A subliminal, dreamlike state of being is something that interests him and he is constantly developing ways of translating an inner emotional dialogue through abstract paintings. He experiments with hypnagogic and hypnopomoic states, capturing the Freudian nature of dreams. Ru combines influences of Surrealism and psychoanalysis in his art, evoking the essence of the subconscious and inner pysche on his canvases.
Ru Knox combines a rigorous formal structure derived from his artistic training under Charles Cecil in Florence with distinctly original ideas to arrive at his unique signature style. A classically trained British artist working primarily in oil paint on canvas, Ru studied for over 10 years under the tutelage of Charles Cecil in Florence before becoming a tutor of academic drawing and oil painting at the Studios. Ru went on to complete a master’s degree at City and Guilds of London Art School and also qualified in architectural interior design.
Frustrated by the limitations of traditional aesthetics, Ru explored new paths through years of idea exploration and experimental techniques. In 2019, he solidified his thoughts and processes by earning a Master’s in Fine Art at City and Guilds, where his MA exhibition caught the attention of collectors and galleries, leading to his first solo show ‘Rapture’ at Waluso Gallery in 2020. The following years propelled him to prominence in the art world and has exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and in the legendary ‘Art in the Age of Now’ at Fulham Town Hall in 2021. Ru participates in art fairs all over, including Volta, The Other Art Fair, and London Art Fair.
British Art Fair is at Saatchi Gallery, London SW3 4RY from Thursday 25th until Sunday 28th September, 2025. Collectors Preview on Thursday 25th September from 11.00-21:00
