Tote bag featuring a detail from One out of two (symposium) by Jenny Saville.

This work represents recent developments in Saville’s practice in which she layers imagery to suggest movement captured simultaneously. In such works Saville draws upon a range of sources, including art history, ancient myths, graffiti and children’s drawings.

The title refers to a text by the Ancient Greek philosopher Plato entitled ‘Symposium’, a work of literary flair that offers philosophical commentary on the nature of Love. The overlaying of line and form in Saville’s work reflects formal qualities found in Plato’s manuscript, particularly the way he weaves together different ideas, presented by multiple speakers throughout the text.