Igniting Penguins

British-born artist Rachel Lumsden creates primarily large-format figurative paintings characterized by intensely atmospheric, pictorial spaces. Her imagery coalesces on the canvas through a virtuoso handling of paint, evoking visual narratives that come unexpectedly close and yet cannot be entirely grasped.

In her book Igniting Penguins, Lumsden invites her readers on an entertaining excursion into the art world and to the core of painting itself. Along the way we are introduced to some of its powerful and quirky gatekeepers, we are baffled by art’s apparently unshakeable gender roles, and we discover what makes figurative painting a sexy form of quantum physics. Lumsden’s essay is both a personal manifesto and a survey of today’s art scene. It offers everything you ever wanted to know about painting and the art world but never dared to ask.

Awarded as one of the most beautiful books in Austria 2023.