"Colour to me is a bottomless pit of possibilities”

Sophie Smallhorn

Sophie Smallhorn, first came to be represented by Eyestorm in July 2014 and within 6 months a successful print was launched that proved to be a bestseller. Her BA from Brighton University in furniture, metal, plastics and ceramics bolsters her talent for showcasing the tensions and harmonies of colour-marriages and specifically, the complex relationships between colour, volume and proportion. The 44-year old was Eyestorm’s fastest-selling and most widely shown female newcomer of 2014. With impressively strong sales across three continents in three months, we explore the commercial standing of her straightforward forms.

Geometry and saturated colour form centre stage in Sophie’s compositions. Her creative thinking is design-led but also intuitive: “as a process I tend to consider the form first, questioning how it will communicate colour’s chromatic relationships”. These forms are arranged geometrically, three-dimensionally and sometimes haphazardly across the media of her oeuvre with the thrust of it revolving around conceptual rather than commercially-driven ideas. With many indoor and outdoor public commissions in major capital cities such as London (Victoria station and Somerset House), Tokyo (Kenzo) and Paris (Comme des Garçons), her work has been critically acclaimed worldwide for its enhancement of the natural and urban environment.

Within this universal appeal lies Sophie’s ultimate success: her commission for the London 2012 Olympic Games committee, which saw her wrap the main Olympic stadium in a riot of colour. Inspired by the colours of the Olympic rings and the flags of the 204 countries participating, she transformed the monochrome structure into a dynamic piece of architecture and since then her career has truly flourished. The following year, Sophie released a set of four screenprints based on the coloured panels she’d devised for London 2012, and the sales history of these works shows this artist’s terrific commercial value in spite of her theoretically-motivated ideas. Eyestorm took on Pale, Yellow, Navy and Wine in April 2014 and since then they’ve proved themselves beloved by private, corporate and interior-design collectors with numerous complete sets purchased across four international art fairs.

Following the success of the 2013 prints, in 2014 Eyestorm published Colour Wheel 5 , a small edition of 45 screenprints where each and every colour is lovingly hand mixed by Sophie herself before being passed to the printers. Following principles of pigment interplay and careful arrangement, Colour Wheel 5 saw Sophie deliberate on shades and the positioning of different colours to result in a composition that’s become her most popular print at Eyestorm to date. The wheel has been a constant theme in Sophie’s work, its continuous form echoing her ongoing exploration of hue, saturation and symmetry. Debuting in New York in autumn 2014, Colour Wheel 5 instantly resonated with US-based collectors and over 30% of the edition went on to sell by the end of the year. With this continued trend of success it can be assumed that the edition will be sold-out come winter 2015.

In Singapore however, the edition didn’t perform in quite the same way and questions are asked as to why. Could she pioneer a more challenging execution? Are the abstract patterns just a little too uncomplicated? Herein is where her colour-patterns and discs are deceptively simple. It’s perhaps the strength of Sophie’s dogmatic stance on simplicity that has gleaned her widespread appreciation. ‘Less is more’ is her philosophy and in a world of attention-grabbing stimuli, her work is a welcome haven. Indeed, her straightforward expression of colour and form should be recognised as a didactic tool, not only for uniting nations, but also for taste and admiration, as seen in the Olympic Games collaboration. More evidence of her popularity is exemplified by the longevity of her artist-presence; for over twenty years she has exhibited both internationally and in the UK, specifically with Eyestorm she’s sold in NYC, Singapore, Mexico City and London – all a testament to the staying-power of her approach.

New development will be seen at Eyestorm at the end of January as we launch Sophie’s second screenprint as the ‘masculine’ counterpart to Colour Wheel 5. The new edition will offer the opportunity for collectors of Colour Wheel 5 to form a pair should they wish to, and for first-time buyers of her work to own something fresh. The fact that this new print comes in quick succession to the previous is down to the thriving reception of Sophie’s work, and therefore a good investment tip might be to aim to secure a piece from the new edition as soon after its release as possible. It is common practice with editioned work to launch at a “pre-publication” price, which applies to the first few prints sold. The edition is then subject to another two to three price increases before it sells out in its entirety. In the case of Sophie’s colour wheels, they will have increased in price by up to 25% by the time the last few prints are sold. This pricing system raises the value of every print in the edition and sets the bar for secondary market trading to begin.

With a third of Colour Wheel 5 already sold, now is the time to buy and simultaneously seize the opportunity to collect a work that will inevitably increase in value to £1200 incl. VAT, and with a partner-print on its way, sales of the pair of together will undoubtedly take off. Moreover, you will be investing in an artist whose work has been in high-profile locations and in public collections across the world over the course of two decades, including the collection of the British Government. An established female artist with a seamless vision of concept and design, Sophie Smallhorn’s universal colour language is timeless, and her work like a breath of fresh air for any collection.