Tag: domestic

Becky Suss at Jack Shainman Gallery

During the pandemic, many people became extremely familiar with their domestic spaces.  Philadelphia-based artist Becky Suss turned up the intensity on her introspection by moving back into her childhood home with her young child and proceeding to paint scenes of her childhood bedroom from different points in her life.  Now on view at Jack Shainman Gallery, the new work reveals how she mined her memory for details from her past, creating scenes within scenes; here, each window in the dollhouse represents a setting from a different children’s story. (On view in Chelsea on 24th Street through June 18th.)

Becky Suss, 8 Greenwood Place (my bedroom), 84 x 60 x 2.5 inches, oil on canvas, 2020.

Gillian Wearing: Wearing Masks at the Guggenheim Museum

Known for bringing private lives into the public realm through projects like her iconic 1992-3 ‘Signs,’ for which strangers posed with signs sharing their personal thoughts, British conceptual artist Gillian Wearing continues to probe beyond the surface in recent work on view in her career retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum.  Based on mid-to late 19th century French artist Henri Fantin-Latour’s ‘La Lecture (The Reading),’ Wearing’s update includes herself on the left, not just listening to the reading, but gazing intently upon the reader.  Fantin-Latour’s characters famously exist in their private worlds, not always connecting with each other. Wearing, on the other hand, is absorbed by the world inhabited by her companion.  (On view on the Upper East Side through April, ’22).

Gillian Wearing, Me in History – A Conversation with the Work of Fantin-Latour, oil on canvas, 2021.

Serena Stevens at Postmasters Gallery

Now back in her native Iowa to complete an MFA, young painter Serena Stevens conveys contemplative quiet in new, large-scale paintings of domestic environments at Postmasters Gallery.  Cats abound, here, pictured in the panels of a cozy-looking quilt and as stuffed toys.  A pair of cast-off jeans on the bed suggest a quick change rather than an erotic interlude in a painting that explores the psychology of intimate spaces.  (On view in Tribeca through Sept 13th.  Appointments are not necessary, but masks and social distancing are required.)

Serena Stevens, Spare Bed, oil on canvas, 80 x 72 inches, 2020.

Ann Toebbe at Monya Rowe

This tranquil domestic interior is too cute, with its matching mugs by the fire, two dogs, two laptops and beautiful beach view. But the scene might not be as cozy as it looks – Ann Toebbe’s latest painted, handcut paper collages depict domestic interiors from friends’ and family members’ past marriages. (At Monya Rowe Gallery on the LES through Feb 22nd).

Ann Toebbe, Remarried, gouache, acrylic and cut paper on panel, 16 x 20 inches, 2015.