Though inspired by the local history and landscape of the countryside near her studio in Kent, England, Sophie von Hellerman’s latest paintings are anything but tranquil. Scenes of ecstatic dancing and energetically soaring birds join paintings like this one – depicting a WWII soldier’s plane crash in the woods – to offer unexpected rural drama. (On view at Greene Naftali Gallery in Chelsea through Feb 2nd).
Idiomatic phrases like ‘jumping through hoops’ or ‘afraid of her own shadow’ inspired London-painter Sophie von Hellerman’s latest solo show at Chelsea’s Greene Naftali Gallery, which includes this huge canvas installation, ‘Throwing Stones in a Glass House.’ In her signature, washy style (pigments are applied directly to unprimed canvas), von Hellerman presents characters who don’t look like they could do much harm with stones resembling mud-clumps, but who conjure unease nonetheless. (Through Jan 4th).
Sophie von Hellerman, Throwing Stones in a Glass House, pigment and acrylic emulsion on canvas, 2013.
