Photography by Tim Craig
For his new exhibition The Belt of Venus at Patricia Low Contemporary, Daniel Crews-Chubb returns to themes that have long shaped his work: mythology, fragmented bodies and the space between abstraction and figuration. In Venice, his paintings feel especially fitting. Surrounded by history, fading surfaces and shifting light, the works move between memory and material, constantly revealing and obscuring themselves at the same time.
I spoke with Daniel about working in the studio, the physicality of painting, fragmented forms and the strange tension between abstraction and figuration that continues to shape his art.
Photography by Tim Craig
Amelie Bachert Hi Daniel, if someone walked into your studio without knowing your work, what would they notice first?
Daniel Crews-Chubb A colourful mess! My studio is a very chaotic and busy space. There are large canvases everywhere, both on the walls and across the floor, alongside torn pieces of fabric, scraps of canvas and bits of charcoal scattered around. I use a lot of different materials, so inks, oils, acrylics, charcoal, bags of sand and spray paint cans are usually spread throughout the space.
The chaos definitely feeds into the work though. It almost becomes a part of it and can drive the decisions I make. But I think that’s all part of its energy and texture in the end.
AB Your exhibition at Patricia Low Contemporary in Venice is titled „The Belt of Venus“, after the pink stripe visible right before sunrise or after sunset. Have you seen the Belt of Venus in real life recently? What was it like?
DC I have. I remember seeing it really vividly once in Italy. We were on the beach on a winter afternoon. The way the pink merges into yellow and blue is really striking. Pink is a colour I always seem to return to in my work for some reason. There’s usually at least a touch of hot neon pink in every painting. I like how a sudden pop of colour can completely shift something, make it feel more contemporary, slightly punky, or throw the image off balance in an interesting way.
AB The title already suggests a strong mythological undertone in the series. What does Venus represent for you beyond the literal reference?
DC I just really liked the title. Obviously it carries both scientific and mythological meanings. Mythology has always interested me and often informs the work. Venus has been depicted countless times throughout history, and I like the idea of my figures existing as broken memories of these icons, references that shift and mutate through the painting process.
Photography by Tim Craig
AB Your work constantly moves between abstraction and figuration. How has your relationship to the human figure changed over the years?
DC My technique and approach tend to shift from series to series, with each body of work becoming slightly different from the last. But that tension between abstraction and figuration is something I’m always searching for. If the work becomes too figurative or too abstract, it loses a certain magic. It’s the tension that keeps the paintings alive for me. They never really answer my questions, they probably just create more. It’s an ongoing process of trusting where the work wants to go.
ABYou often reference classical Roman sculpture and dismembered forms. What does fragmentation allow you to express that a complete body cannot?
DC I remember visiting Rome when I was younger and being struck by how many statues were missing limbs. I also had a similar experience at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, where I saw a huge stone carving of the Aztec moon goddess Coyolxãuhqui with all her limbs separated from her torso. I’m always looking for those kinds of visual links across ancient cultures.
What interests me is how these fragments still feel recognisable, but are so eroded by time that you can never fully grasp them. They sit somewhere between image and memory. There is a kind of pareidolia in it, where you are constantly trying to complete what is missing. The figures in my paintings work in a similar way. They appear and disappear like fragments of a distant memory.
AB In an interview from 2025, you described yourself as “a sculptor trapped in a painter’s body.” How does that idea show up in this new body of work?
DCMy paintings have always felt very sculptural to me. I rarely use brushes. I often smear thick oil paint straight from the tube onto the canvas with my hands, almost as if I am working with clay. The collage elements also add to the materiality of the surface. I very much think of the works as objects rather than just images.
AB Your paintings feel incredibly physical and textured. How important is the material process compared to the image itself?
DC For me, the surface is just as important as the image. We live in an age dominated by digital images, and I think that inevitably affects the way painters work today. People often tell me the paintings look much better in person, which I like hearing. I am definitely not making paintings to look good on a screen.
Photography by Tim Craig
AB: Your work references artists like Willem de Kooning and Cecily Brown, as well as Cubism and works like Girl with a Mandolin. How do you absorb these influences without slipping into quotation or imitation?
DC When I was younger, I spent a lot of time looking and searching for inspiration. Now I mostly just want to make things. Like a sponge, I have absorbed everything I am drawn to, and now I want to push it back out in my own way. The paintings feel like broken memories of artworks and artefacts I have encountered through travel, museums and books. They definitely engage with art history, but I like keeping the references slightly out of reach.
AB What’s the strangest interpretation of your work you’ve ever heard?
DC Some people don’t see the figures in the paintings at all, which always really surprises me.
AB What kind of experience do you hope visitors will have with these paintings in Venice?
DC I hope the paintings deliver an immediate impact, but then slowly begin to reveal themselves over time, almost like an illusion. The figures move in and out of focus, and it is those visual shifts and ambiguities that interest me. That is what keeps me wanting to push the work further.
AB You’ve exhibited all over the world, from China and South Korea to the UK, the US and Mexico. What makes Venice such a special place to present contemporary art?
DC Venice feels like a museum floating on water. During the Biennale, the entire city becomes this open air gallery, so I was very excited to present this work there, at this particular moment.
AB The exhibition features six paintings. Do you have a favourite?
DC The largest painting in the exhibition, *The Belt of Venus I*, is probably my favourite because it captures a lot of what I am trying to achieve at this point in my journey. I see it almost as a memory of The Three Graces, but fragmented, glitchy and distorted.
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The Belt of Venus is on view at Patricia Low Contemporary, Dorsoduro 2793, Venice.
From 6 May until 15 August 2026.