Independent 2023

"If one definition of the act of painting is the fabrication of a static image, then this seems at odds with the practice of the young, self-trained Danish artist Cecilia Fiona, which feels pledged utterly to the concept of flow. The worlds depicted in her vibrant, phantasmagorical canvases are perpetually bursting into being, like scenes from the creation myth of a lost ancient culture, or else perhaps some utopian future society. Almost nothing, here, is stable or bounded. Suns merge into skies and seas. Plants bud, blossom and scatter their seeds to the winds. Now and then, stylised humanoid figures emerge from the pigment, sporting beatific smiles and long trailing hair, or else impish horns and pairs of soft, feathery wings. Are they angels and demons, gods and mortals? Perhaps such distinctions don’t obtain in Fiona’s painted universe, where fluidity and connection appears to be the whole of the law." - Extract from an essay by Tom Morton.

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Independent was established in 2010, with the aim of inspiring relevant art encounters for a well-informed and devoted Contemporary Art audience. Over the last decade, Independent has created an internationally recognized platform for galleries that prioritizes discovery and context, in contrast to the standard commercial fair. Due to Independent’s unique model, our audience is tailored to connoisseur-based collectors and institutions. Held annually in May at Spring Studios, and in September at the Battery Maritime Building at Cipriani South Street, Independent brings together more than 90 international galleries and non-profit organizations to New York, with consistently fresh and unexpected content for each edition. By supporting a focused range of established, innovative and emerging as well as outsider art and design from 1900 to the present, Independent aims to present a true reflection of the fabric of the global art community.