Cubist and fauvist influences

Paintings such as Untitled (1966), and Lady Enjoying the Sun (On the Beach) (1966) (illustrated above and below), will feature in the exhibition and are typical of her work, they reflect the influence of cubist and fauvist vocabularies that were central to Berenice’s practice, in contrast to the then-prevailing Pop Art aesthetic.

Of her first solo show at the Drian Galleries in London in 1968 the critic Marina Vaizey in Arts Review praised Berenice’s drawings based on Greek myths as ‘neo-classical in technique and vaguely reminiscent of the famous period of Picasso.' She argued that these had been 'a tough self-training’ with ‘coherent and elegant exercises.’

Rhythmic and harmonious compositions

As her style developed, Berenice abandoned figurative representation for total abstraction, in which geometric or freely composed forms created rhythmic and harmonious compositions. The multifaceted experiments of this nature have been described as depicting her own ‘floating cosmos’. As is witnessed in another featured painting, Untitled (1983), (illustrated below) the vortex-like compositions of these later works generate a dynamic structural frame that expresses joy, exhilaration and the artist’s extraordinary freedom of spirit.

Expressive and original

One of the most expressive and original artists working in Britain in the late 1960s through to the early 1980s, Berenice’s oeuvre spans paintings, drawings, prints, children’s books, costume design and performance. She travelled widely throughout her life, including Greece, the Aegean islands and Egypt - the history and mythology of which provided subject matter for many of her paintings.

She continued to explore themes in her work relating to Persian mythology, Christian symbolism and Greek mythological subjects as well as referencing Ancient Egyptian art, even creating a hieroglyph of her professional name and working on papyrus.

Berenice Sydney: Dancing with Colour
At SALON, Saatchi Gallery | www.saatchigallery.com
Exhibition open until Monday 3 September