Emil Sands

Tibor de Nagy is pleased to present Emil Sands - We Are Not In Hell. This is the artist's first exhibition with the gallery and his New York debut.

In this exhibition the British-born artist asks:

How far will men go to be crowned men by other men?

Using the imagery and symbolism of American hazing culture, frat parties, and secret society rituals as a starting point, the work of Emil Sands breaks down the making of a man. Here are figures we recognise in worlds we don’t. In this borderland between the real and make believe, shame abounds, desperation warps human action, and violence is writ large on the male body.

Some figures question their actions, while others stare blankly ahead. All of them are watched, or in a state of watching. Who sees what when? Sands captures masculinity on stage, gender performed. But we are not in hell. This play needn’t be a tragedy.

Emil Sands was born in London in 1998, and currently lives and works in New York. He attended Central St. Martins for a Fine Art Painting foundation in 2017 and the University of Cambridge from 2018 until 2022, where he read Classics for his BA and studied for an MPhil in Ancient Art. In 2022, he was then awarded the Henry Fellowship to study Fine Art and Creative Writing at Yale's School of Art and Writing School respectively. His work has been exhibited in group shows across the UK - at the Crypt Gallery in London, and Mostyn gallery in Wales, most notably. His personal essay Struck on one Side, which focused on his experience growing up with Cerebral Palsy, was published in the March 2023 edition of The Atlantic magazine, along with his paintings. He is currently working on extending the piece into a memoir.