Reinventing the Figure
In the last decade abstraction has dominated the art scene, but now some painters in New York are reinventing figuration with a new freedom, each of them with a very distinct approach.
Katherine Bernhardt creates paintings depicting every day objects, fruit, flowers and plants, but also the Pink Panther, in a very American, 鈥渋n-your-face鈥�, energetic style. Fluid and hurried, Bernhardt鈥檚 canvases are seemingly provisional, radiating energy. Katherine Bradford is known for her vibrant palette and eccentric compositions. Often built up over months and sometimes years, her paintings are textured, semi-transparent coats of acrylic paint. Her recent paintings are depictions of water and swimmers, both playful and profound. Painting and swimming share immersion and a certain loss of control that is simultaneously wild and structured. The body in nature: we see ourselves situated in relationship to the deep other. Taking a feminist approach, Mira Dancy makes powerful, expressive works centred on the female figure. She works primarily on canvas, but has also branched out into wall painting and neon light pieces. Dancy often works on a large-scale, filling her canvases with expansive nudes rendered in vibrant colors and with calligraphic, sweeping, sinuous lines and color fields reminiscent of the German Expressionists, with a unique, very personal style.
Derek Fordjour鈥榮 images draw upon a variety of sources, including sporting imagery, board and card games, carnival motifs and the circus to explore ideas of vulnerability. He uses the socio-political implications of games to discuss the power structure that exists around rewards and sanctions, for both the player within the game and as an allegory for the broader human experience. Grace Weaver portrays playful scenes of stimulus-saturated modern life in a very personal graphic style. Her subjects鈥攐ften depicted at leisure and in bright shades 鈥� have included a girl checking her cellphone at the beach, another jogging in flip flops at the park, and a couple lounging in bed holding a laptop and a hand mirror. Presenting these vignettes in a distinctive aesthetic, Weaver flattens and elongates her figures, giving them an almost cartoon-like appearance.
Recommended for you
In the last decade abstraction has dominated the art scene, but now some painters in New York are reinventing figuration with a new freedom, each of them with a very distinct approach.
Katherine Bernhardt creates paintings depicting every day objects, fruit, flowers and plants, but also the Pink Panther, in a very American, 鈥渋n-your-face鈥�, energetic style. Fluid and hurried, Bernhardt鈥檚 canvases are seemingly provisional, radiating energy. Katherine Bradford is known for her vibrant palette and eccentric compositions. Often built up over months and sometimes years, her paintings are textured, semi-transparent coats of acrylic paint. Her recent paintings are depictions of water and swimmers, both playful and profound. Painting and swimming share immersion and a certain loss of control that is simultaneously wild and structured. The body in nature: we see ourselves situated in relationship to the deep other. Taking a feminist approach, Mira Dancy makes powerful, expressive works centred on the female figure. She works primarily on canvas, but has also branched out into wall painting and neon light pieces. Dancy often works on a large-scale, filling her canvases with expansive nudes rendered in vibrant colors and with calligraphic, sweeping, sinuous lines and color fields reminiscent of the German Expressionists, with a unique, very personal style.
Derek Fordjour鈥榮 images draw upon a variety of sources, including sporting imagery, board and card games, carnival motifs and the circus to explore ideas of vulnerability. He uses the socio-political implications of games to discuss the power structure that exists around rewards and sanctions, for both the player within the game and as an allegory for the broader human experience. Grace Weaver portrays playful scenes of stimulus-saturated modern life in a very personal graphic style. Her subjects鈥攐ften depicted at leisure and in bright shades 鈥� have included a girl checking her cellphone at the beach, another jogging in flip flops at the park, and a couple lounging in bed holding a laptop and a hand mirror. Presenting these vignettes in a distinctive aesthetic, Weaver flattens and elongates her figures, giving them an almost cartoon-like appearance.
Artists on show
What's on nearby
