Monica Maja Richardson

Monica Maja Richardson: Primavera

London based artist Monica Maja Richardson draws inspiration from her Italian roots and the arrival of spring for her new solo exhibition Primavera. Monica Maja Richardson: Primavera, curated by Culturalee, will feature a series of bold new large-scale canvases and smaller paintings. That are both a celebration of nature and a reflection of Richardson’s abstract expressionist influences. 

The exhibition’s title Primavera is a nod to Richardson’s Italian roots. Conjuring up images of Botticelli’s famed Renaissance panel painting depicting the Three Graces, Mercury, Zephyr. Together with other figures from classical mythology in an abundant garden, acting as an allegory for the arrival of spring. Richardson’s colourful palette of pinks, yellows, greens, blues and reds applied with loose brushstrokes. Evokes a chorus of crocuses, dancing daffodils and vibrant violets. Some of the paintings have Italian-inspired titles, such as Poesia (Poetry). Or La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life), inspired by Fellini’s iconic 1960 cinematic ode to Rome. 

Lee Sharrock: Why did you decide on the exhibition title ‘Primavera’, Monica? 

Monica Maja Richardson: What’s more beautiful than Spring! I’m an Italian from Rome. Even after 21 years in London my Mediterranean soul really struggles with the English winters. My mood changes completely if I wake up and the sun is shining. I feel happy, I want to embrace nature, going for a walk. And I can see this reflected in my works, I tend to use bright colours all the time. I have the need to surround myself with them when I’m at the studio. It’s like I want to capture the light of my country and bring it on my paintings. 

And this collection in particular uses colours and texture to evoke the energy of a Springtime renewal. It’s like a personal ode to the season of rebirth and vitality, where everything seems possible. New beginnings, fresh ideas, new love.

Primavera is not just a season, it’s a feeling. A sensation, an emotion. It’s pure joy.

Your paintings have become more abstract expressionist as you have progressed in your career. The palette you have used in the new paintings for ‘Primavera’ have a really joyful and uplifting palette. Are there any particular artists that influence you, and how do you choose the colours that you use? 

Richardson: It’s true, my latest collection is definitely abstract expressionist. It’s more gestural, the brushstrokes are more vigorous. The new (for me) use of brushes instead of squeegees has completely changed my style. I feel even more freedom than before. I can control the brushes and at the same time play with them, let them guide me. It’s exciting every time, a new discovery, something I can feel it’s going to stay for a while. There are so many more directions it can take me to. 

I’m constantly inspired by other artists, and for this collection in particular, I need to thank three amazing women.

Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner, my favourite abstract expressionists artists. With them I discovered new colours and new brushstrokes. My paintings have become more visceral, with a renovated freedom and depth.

I have even given the title ‘Joan’ to one of my paintings, inspired by her own one ‘Chez ma soeur’. Those yellows were incredible!

Monica, how did you transition from a successful career as a TV presenter in Italy, to a new career as an artist? 

Richardson: I started working very young in some of Italy’s most popular TV’s shows. I wanted to earn some money and feel independent and ended up working in TV for more than 20 years. For the final 12 years I worked for a movie channel. Traveling to film festivals around the world, interviewing all the most famous stars, covering film premieres.  It was great but also quite tiring.

Painting was just a little hobby, something very intimate that would give me peace. Completely different from my job, where I was constantly surrounded by many people. I think shifting from one to the other one happened quite naturally. I had already one son when I moved to London and when my daughter arrived in 2009 I definitely felt that I had changed as a woman. My priorities were different, my life was different, and interviewing people on the red carpet wasn’t bringing me joy anymore.

My paintings were becoming more and more important. Making me feel alive and real, and it was special for me to discover another Monica. Not in front of the camera but in front of a canvas.

Monica Maja Richardson you live and work in London. Does your Italian heritage influence your art at all? (I read that your uncle was an artist which could have been an influence)?

Richardson: Absolutely! The first memory of looking at an artwork was indeed in my uncle’s studio. He was a priest in a little place not too far away from Rome, in the countryside. With a studio in his house.

For young Monica that studio looked enormous, magical, with the most amazing smell. It was of course turpentine, he would paint with oil, but at the time I had no idea. It simply felt incredible, something I had never experienced before.

We weren’t allowed in there with my sister so I would have just a rare glimpse every so often. But a glimpse that lasted forever. Because I’m pretty sure that the first seeds of my artistic career were planted in those days.

And for the influence of Italy in general, that’s present everywhere in my paintings.

I spent 30 years there before moving to London. All the first exhibitions my mother used to take me to. All the masterpieces and historical monuments I saw where there. Italy is an open-air museum and Rome in particular is the most beautiful city in the world! Can you imagine that when you’re a child the school takes you to visit the Sistine Chapel? How can you not fall in love with Art! Inspiration is everywhere. And the colours, the light…that is something that stays with you forever.

Are you self-taught as an artist? And can you give a bit of insight into your process and technique?

Richardson: I am indeed a self-taught artist. I started loving paintings looking at the Impressionist artists, when I was quite young. I would dream to be able to do something like that. But I wasn’t good at drawing so I thought I could never be an artist. I thought real artists were only the ones who could do beautiful portraits, landscapes. 

Jackson Pollock

Then one day I saw a painting by Pollock. And that was a big shock. Suddenly there was someone out there who made me understand how I was feeling inside. I had discovered abstract art, and my life had changed forever. I became such a big fun, getting quite obsessed with him and his dripping style. Then I discovered Richter, and moved from dripping to layering paint in different ways. I had found a world where the possibilities were infinite, where I could express myself in every way I wanted. Every new artist I discovered was becoming a new inspiration, teaching me something new. It was magical. And it still is. 

I have always used all the weirdest tools in my practice, never brushes. From squeegees, to sponges, sticks, bare hands, and lots of funny things I’d find in the studio. At one point I was really experimenting all the time! It was fun and so beautiful moving the paint on the canvas. It’s something incredible the joy that one can feel getting lost in colour.

I have just recently started working with brushes, for my latest collection, Primavera. It’s just happened naturally. One day, before the Summer, I was at the studio and decided to use it. And I haven’t stopped since! Who knows what I’ll use in the future, I’m actually curious myself. Exploring is wonderful.

Monica Maja Richardson Primavera is at 19 Kensington Park Road, London W11 2EU from 28^th May until 8^th June, 2025.