Maïa Regis

Maïa Regis (b. 1995, Paris) works between Paris and Palermo, Italy. Regis aims to transform her canvases into living beings, into visceral surfaces. Her paintings are to be fed from chance, traces of work, dirt, cuts and seams. She is also heavily inspired by music, and Regis paints in a similar mode to sampling; a technique which consists in mixing different musical patterns (electronic music, gospel, hip hop, classical, blues etc.) on one sound recording to develop a new work.

There are elements of violence in Regis’s paintings: weapons, hidden figures, meat hanging from hooks, but all that is counterbalanced by more calm and joyful elements like a flower bouquet, fruit, bright colours. Keeping a balance between the two helps the artist not to fall into romanticism or morality. Rather, she searches for unexpected situations or associations of objects and drips, echoing an atmosphere of contrast that can be a lot of Southern countries, such as Sicily, where the artist’s mother originates. The narratives of Regis’ paintings are purposefully unclear, leaving space for the viewer’s imagination, and it is this ambiguity that keeps a certain tension and liveliness to the work. 

Regis earned a BA in Fine Art from Chelsea College of Art (2019) and an MA in Painting from Royal College of Art (2017).

Solo exhibitions include 'Carne di Goya' , Plan X Gallery, Capri (2023); 'Kilos', Carl Kostyal Gallery, London (2022). Her works have been featured in group exhibitions at Francesco Pantaleone Gallery, Palermo (2024); Badr El Jundi Gallery, Madrid (2023); Carl Kostyal Gallery, Milan (2022); Gallery 46, London (2021); Grove Collective, London (2021); Grand Teatret, Copenhagen (2020); Sim Smith Gallery, London (2019); 'Cicatrices', VO Curations (2019); Nuove / Contemporary Art Production, Palermo (2018); John Moore’s University, Liverpool Biennial (2018); South London Gallery, London (2018); Mall Galleries, London (2018); Baltic Center for Contemporary Art, Newcastle (2017); Crypt Gallery, London (2016); Galerie François Charles, Vidauban (2016); Emily Carr University Gallery, Vancouver (2015). 

Regis was selected for the Elephant Lab Residency (2019) and won the Griffin Art Prize (2018).