ArtHouse Jersey ‘The starving artist’ exhibition

ArtHouse Jersey is delighted to announce the upcoming launch of an art exhibition exploring eating disorders.

The arts charity has invited US artist Ally Zlatar to share her collection of paintings focusing on her experiences of living with disordered eating, following her participation in their ‘Virtual Retreat’ in 2020.

The exhibition will take place at the arts charity’s HQ at Greve de Lecq Barracks from Friday 25th March until Saturday 2nd April 2022 between 10am and 5pm (with a private view in the evening on Thursday 24th March). Ally will also be meeting and sharing her experiences with school students while in the Island.

Exploring how the making of art suggests the human condition is more complex than is currently understood, Zlatar examines the notion of the individual experience by focusing on the themes of illness, vulnerability, and authenticity of one’s lived experience.

Ally utilises an auto-ethnographic approach to her contemporary figurative painting, working with her personal narratives and life experiences to guide her exploration of identity and self-perception in our modern discourse.

The Starving Artist itself is an art initiative that explores the lived experience of mental illness such as eating disorders and body dysmorphia. The Starving Artist started in 2017, as an exhibition and publication with five artists, but Ally received such overwhelming responses and engagement, that she felt the work needed to be shared more widely.

Currently, The Starving Artist creates artistic research, publications, exhibitions, workshops, artist talks and reflections that explore the themes concerning the visual identities associated with eating disorders.

Artist Ally Zlatar said: “As an artist-activist, I believe that art can make a direct impact on society, and I aim to particularly assist eating disorder sufferers. In this way, my objective is to make a direct impact on contemporary society by assisting eating disorder sufferers.

“Despite public health initiatives often there are limited resources available, and these are distributed inadequately. I passionately believe that treatment in all forms is crucial to addressing this illness. Sales from my artist book, exhibitions, and donations help fund The Starving Artist Scholarship, which is a charity I started in 2018 that offers financial assistance to individuals who are seeking inpatient or partial hospitalisation programs but have limited resources and are in financial need.”