British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye converses with John Singer Sargent’s 19th century portrait of a doctor in a red dressing gown standing before red drapes in this vivid painting of an imagined young man in a red jacket lounging on a red sofa. Is he mimicking the crucifixion or expressing total relaxation in the comfort of this womb-red environment? Titled ‘The Ventricular,’ matters of the heart and health come to mind. (On view at Jack Shainman Gallery’s Chelsea locations through Feb 16th).
Humor, irony and abjection abound in Greene Naftali Gallery’s summer group show ‘Painting Now and Forever, part III,’ a collaboration with Matthew Marks Gallery, but none of these qualities are found in British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s fictional portrait titled ‘Jubilee.’ Instead, Yiadom-Boakye’s elevated characters – backlit in this case by a golden glow – are quietly exalted, seemingly above everyday life and happy in their own company and thoughts. (On view in Chelsea through August 17th).
Though British artist (and writer) Lynette Yiadom-Boakye’s figures look like portraits, they come from her imagination. The title of this piece, ‘Attention from the Righteous,’ suggests a condescending character, but this young man’s lively eyes and soft expression make him immediately likeable. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through Jan 10th).
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Attention From the Righteous, oil on canvas, 19 ¾ x 18 inches, 2014.
The young British artist Lynette Yiadom-Boakye was a standout in last spring’s New Museum Triennial. She’s back with a show of new paintings at Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery titled ‘All Manner of Needs’ in which solitary subjects gaze out at us with searching eyes. (Through October 13th.)
