Living flesh

In early‑1990s London, amid warehouses and independent galleries, the Young British Artists emerged with provocative strategies that reshaped British art. Against this climate of spectacle, Jenny Saville stood out by pursuing painting rather than installation or conceptual work. Born in 1970 and trained in Glasgow, her time in Cincinnati strengthened her conviction that painting could still confront the present. Saville chose the human body as her field of inquiry: large‑scale canvases confront viewers with flesh rendered in layered, insistent marks, exploring identity, vulnerability and social taboos.

Over thirty years, she has expanded her themes to motherhood, metamorphosis and the history of representation while engaging deeply with Renaissance, classical and Expressionist traditions. Ca’ Pesaro now dedicates her first Venetian monograph (March 28 – November 22), gathering about thirty works from the 1990s to new pieces inspired by the lagoon. In the Biennale year, Saville’s radical corporeal painting reactivates the museum’s modern lineage, using the body to measure and challenge the present.

Featured image: © Jenny Saville. All rights reserved, DACS 2026 – Photo Tyler Mitchell – Courtesy Gagosian