Tuca Tuca – Spring Time in Rome

Sinta Tantra (1979 - )

Tempera on linen

2017

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Government Art Collection
    Sintra Tantra’s painting is a balanced composition of irregular geometric shapes in a medley of vibrant colours. She has painted in tempera, a traditional medium commonly found in early Renaissance Italian painting. Its forms are reminiscent of a wooden puzzle or a floor of mosaic tiles, carefully placed side by side.

    A connection to the art and colours of Italy is at the heart of Tantra’s painting. In 2016, she was awarded the prestigious Bridget Riley Fellowship at the British School of Rome. During this yearlong residency, she immersed herself both in the rich history of the city but also its contemporary attitudes and styles. Commenting on the title of this painting she explains:

    “Tuca Tuca” (touch touch) is taken from a 1970s song by Rafaella Carrà – a famous Italian singer I became fascinated with after hearing her in the soundtrack for the film, The Great Beauty. The music is retro, energetic and playfully sexy – very Italian, very Roman.

    The light in my studio in Rome enabled me to make huge developments in how I mix my colours – they became bolder, saturated and fresher.

    An awareness of the influence that physical environments have on people is central to Tantra’s practice. 

  • About the artist
    Sinta Tantra was born in New York into a Balinese family, but grew up living in a variety of international locations from Indonesia and Singapore to America and London. Tantra studied at the Slade School of Art (London, 2000–03) followed by postgraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Art (2003–06). Her first major solo exhibition, 'Real Phoney', was held at the Monika Bobinska Gallery in London in 2009, followed by a solo show in Bali that year. She has also exhibited in various group shows around the world and has won a number of awards including the 2009 Courvoisier The Future 500 and the Deutsche Bank Pyramid Award in Fine Art in 2006.
  • Explore
    Places
    Subjects
    abstract
    Materials & Techniques
    linen, tempera, tempera painting
  • Details
    Artist
    Sinta Tantra (1979 - )
    Title
    Tuca Tuca – Spring Time in Rome
    Date
    2017
    Medium
    Tempera on linen
    Dimensions
    height: 181 cm, width: 130.5 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from the artist, August 2017
    Inscription
    inscribed verso, on upper canvas foldback
    Provenance
    The artist; purchased August 2017
    GAC number
    18730