Jam-packed bars and artist studios bursting with color are the mainstays of New York artist Rebecca Ness’ painting practice, scenes joined by quieter self-portraits picturing moments of work, thought or rest. Her latest solo show at Chelsea’s Morgan Presents delves deeper into her thought process with a wall of paintings featuring mini-versions of artworks by a variety of artists from Hans Holbein to Philip Guston as well as this huge homage to a relative who was a boxer on the Lower East Side. Channeling George Bellows’ famous 1924 painting ‘Dempsey and Firpo’ in the Whitney Museum’s collection but sending the blue-shorted boxer flying in our direction, ‘Abe’s winning punch’ ramps up the drama as Ness imagines her forebear’s triumphant blow. (On view in Chelsea through Oct 24th).
