#VSF Gallery

[longlistshort]

Currently at VSF LA are Sarah Ippolito’s new colorful sculptures inspired by aquatic creatures for her exhibition Liquid Realm.

From the gallery-

The ocean is what makes the earth habitable, without the ocean life is not possible, “in a way we’re all sea creatures” – Sylvia Earle

Los Angeles-based Ippolito’s exuberantly biomorphic sculptures are inspired by time spent underwater, immersed in contemplation of the umwelt of aquatic creatures and the central role of the oceans in the health and wellbeing of people and our planet. Divided between the &Milk project space and the VSF courtyard, Ippolito’s exhibition considers the differing sensory environments and inhabitants of the sunlit shallows and the expansive open ocean. While the ocean covers more than 70% of the planet’s surface and contains roughly 97% of Earth’s biosphere, life underwater and the nature of the ocean often feels alien. Ippolito’s works bring some of this vibrancy and abundance onto dry land.

Color and texture are central to Ippolito’s work – her sculptures are recognizable not only for their uncanny and whimsical shapes, but for her use of bright color, evocative texture, and shifts in scale. For Ippolito, color expresses exuberance, optimism, and vitality. Intricate and tactile textured surfaces are dynamic and invite curiosity and engagement. Scale is used as a way to disrupt expected hierarchies, the viewer may feel they have been shrunk or the forms they look at magnified; each scale relationship impacts the experience of her body in space and in relationship to others. Scale is also a key in our relationship to the ocean – In its vastness, the ocean feels as unknowable as outer space and yet, somehow, it is also as familiar as our own backyards. The lively nature of Ippolito’s work is underscored by the use of active verbs in the titles for all of her new works: Filtering, Undulating, and Fanning their names describe the range of movement implied by their forms.

In the courtyard, Ippolito presents her first cast bronze sculpture. Standing at just about the same height as the artist, the form blends shapes and textures from a Salp spiral (phylum Chordata) and the tentacles of Portuguese man o’ war (phylum Cnidaria.) Both “creatures” are colonies of individual organisms. The bold cobalt-blue figure stands erect, its tentacles meandering and sensing its surroundings. Nearby an installation of hand-formed ceramic shapes represents a bloom of Phytoplankton – tiny single celled organisms that drift in the upper layer of the ocean using photosynthesis to transform carbon dioxide into oxygen. The word “plankton” comes from the Greek word for “drifter” or “wanderer.” It’s estimated that roughly 50% of the oxygen on Earth is produced by oceanic phytoplankton. Phytoplankton are the primary producers of the ocean – offering food for a range of organisms from small filter feeders like salps to massive whale sharks. Phytoplankton also play a crucial role in regulating the atmosphere in the biological carbon pump – absorbing carbon dioxide at the surface and as they die they sink to the bottom (marine snow) and sequester carbon in the deep ocean. The forms in this piece are inspired by the most abundant types of phytoplankton – the diatoms, dinoflagellates, green algae, cyanobacteria, and coccolithophores.

In &Milk a group of table-top scaled works and a large figural work inspired by a range of creatures from the phylum Cnidaria (sea anemones, jellyfish, coral, sea fans) and phylum Annelida (feather duster and tube worms) are on view. These are some of the earliest life forms to evolve on the planet after phytoplankton transformed the atmosphere of the Earth to one hospitable for animal life – appearing between about 635 million and 515 million years ago, they have survived 5 mass extinctions. Abounding with color, these animals are sometimes naturally pigmented or get their distinctive coloration from symbiotic algae that live in their tissues. They possess a unique form of intelligence; operating without a brain and sometimes with rudimentary eyes. With their flexible tentacles that are sensitive to the slightest touch and vibrations they reach into the open water to filter feed plankton or capture small prey.

By reimagining marine organisms and their adaptations, Ippolito invites viewers to explore the hidden wonders of our oceans and consider the interconnectedness of all life. Her creative practice, rooted in direct observation and scientific exploration, embodies the potential of art to spark environmental reflection. In a world where the health of our oceans is increasingly vital, Ippolito’s work reminds us of our deep connection to the vast liquid realm that defines our planet.

This exhibition closes 10/19/24.

[thenextartmovement]

Gallery focus: VSF Seoul

In April 2019, VSF opened a second location in the Hannam-dong neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea with L.A. staples, Billy Al Bengston and Ed Ruscha. To welcome their international guests to Seoul, they crafted an incredible VIP program featuring a little glimpse into what’s chic in Seoul from curator lead tours of museums (LEEUM, Samsung Museum of Art, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Korea and Amore Pacific Corporation’s Museum, and more), traditional Korean markets to tasty restaurants.  

A bunch of American tourists in Seoul. :D

Quick stop at Gwangjang Market for snacks

View of the brand new VSF Seoul from across the street

Owner, Esther Kim Varet and Sara Hantman – Senior Director flew in from Los Angeles

Joseph Varet, Wendy Al, Billy Al Bengston and Esther Varet

Sr. Curator, Jan-Uk Lee, nice to see you in 3 cities in 1 week!

Love their coats!  Great turn out at the opening of VSF in Seoul.

Ed Ruscha, Wen Out for Cigret N Never Came Back, 2017, 2 x 19.75 in

Various Small Fires (VSF) is a gallery owned and operated by Esther Kim Varet with locations in Los Angeles, California and Seoul, South Korea. It is in its sixth year of programming.

In 2014, Johnston MarkLee Architects designed the current VSF building with nearly 5,000 sq-ft (465 sq-m) of exhibition space, including a unique sound corridor for year-round audio art programming. VSF is also one of the few commercial venues to have a dedicated outdoor gallery for large-scale sculpture and installation.

What I love about VSF is their commitment to social responsibility and sustainability. Over 75% of their artists are women. The gallery uses 100% solar energy to operate its exhibition spaces and goes to great lengths to reduce our carbon footprint and eliminate plastic by-products.

[nhlovesadri3]

cleopatraja:

Tonight was another first for the books...The @vsfashionshow did not disappoint! The ladies are as lovely as they are beautiful & cheers to the amazing dream team covering it all with me! ❌⭕️ @victoriassecret @goodmorningamerica @abcnetwork

[brooklynmuseum]

Although #BlackHistoryMonth is coming to a close, the work of these artists remains on view in The Slipstream: Reflection, Resistance, and Resistance in the Art of Our Time as well as across our galleries. ⁠ ⁠ Thanks to our visitors for capturing the work of Diedrick Brackens, El Anatsui, Tschabalala Self, and LaToya Ruby Frazier. ⁠Share your visit to the Brooklyn Museum by using #MyBkM.⁠ ⁠ 📷: @vsf, @enagudo, @kendalleden_, @lenaeltony

[sexypinkon]

~Sexypink~ Che Lovelace’s latest work.

Che Lovelace is exhibiting now at the VSF Gallery, Los Angeles. 

[silenceandpatiencepining]

About Kaylor having met at the MET, it's cause we had a quote from Karlie (from september 2012) saying they did and that they had joked about baking cookies on the ocasion. www*teenvogue*com/gallery/mtv-house-of-style-karlie-kloss-joan-smalls#3.. now, i wonder why did they change the narrative of where they have met?

I’ve seen several stories about when they actually met the first time—one said they met at party of a mutual friend of Diana’s or something like that a bit before the met and before the baking comment. And then there’s that story about the met. But then there’s everyone talking about how enamored they were of each other at the VSFS and the rehearsals. They knew of each other before they met, for sure, and probably noticed each other before that. The narrative sort of depends on what you’d consider a proper first meeting.

[paysagesinterieurs]

Texte 311 - Vers un truc limite « divinité »

Los Angeles 12/2/20 _ Dans le lyft qui me mène au 812 North Highland, à la Various Small Fires Gallery, j’essaye d’écrire. Mais cela ne vient pas, je suis prise dans le tourbillon de LA, pas assez d’intelligence pour pouvoir écrire lorsque j’ai 10 minutes devant moi. Je suis hyper excitée par les openings de ce soir. Il y en a beaucoup. J’avais prévu du repos pour aujourd’hui, mais Aaron m’a boostée pour m’enfiler plusieurs openings. Du coup, ce matin, enfin ce midi enfin 14h pour être précise (c’est fou ce que j’aime être précise concernant certaines choses de la vie, et d’autres où je suis terriblement floue : faudra écrire un texte sur ça), donc ce matin, enfin midi, enfin 14h (et j’aime me répéter aussi, comme si je voulais absolument pénétrer les cerveaux des gens en les saoulant, c’est mon côté charmeuse de serpents), donc ce matin! Enfin ce midi! Enfin 14h! (Et en plus je m’excite, le ton monte, mon sang bouillonne, et je m’imagine sur scène a lire mes textes, avec enthousiasme et faisant rire la salle toute entière! C’est mon côté humble.). Donc vers 14h je suis allée à pieds chez Staples, sur Sunset Blvd. Pour imprimer 400 billets. Je récupèrerai ce matos demain matin. Et ensuite ce sera Frieze Frieze Frieze si je réussis à m’incruster. Ou Felix Art Fair Perf a donf’ Non stop J’ai plein d’amis Faut dire que LA est énorme mais le monde de l’art est très petit, je croise les mêmes personnes à chaque fois. _ Voilà je viens de perf’ chez VSF. Tac Tac T’as Aaron : ben il m’a filmée. Tranquille, normal. J’ai dû me chauffer un peu avec du « RoOosay’ ». On se connaît depuis une semaine, et c’est peut-être la personne qui a le mieux compris mon travail. Il me traite de Chaplin de l’art, de Jacques Tati. Ça me va grave. La « chuis » dans le deuxième lyft pour rejoindre la Matthew Marks Gallery. Le temps pour écrire quelques trucs. Des sensations peut être? Je me sens bien, j’ai l’impression que tout roule, je ne pouvais pas espérer mieux Tiens je viens de penser que j’aurais pu demander à Jason (Moonshine-Performa-tout ça, tu te souviens?) si il n’aurait pas un PASS pour la Frieze pour moi... Ok good, demande envoyée à lui et à d’autres personnes sympas. _ La big big big Mathew Marks Gallery, j’y suis. Katharina Fritsch y est présentée. L’artiste n’est pas là. Aaron m’a présentée à Lindsay Regen De Regen Projects Je lui ai filé un billet Elle a apprécié de façade Mais bon normal elle doit en voir passer des artistes La meuf elle a 40 ans, elle est à la tête d’un Empire - impressionnant on dirait qu’elle a 20 ans. Il m’a aussi présentée à Lita Albuquerque. [Albukeurki] ça se prononce, parce qu’il m’a dit « comme la ville », et c’est là que j’ai compris. J’ai même dit genre « Ah! Oui! [Albükérkeu]! » Tu vois un peu mon level. Je m’en sors, mais « chais » pas trop comment. En tout cas j’ai erré, je me suis faite filmer. « Ok cool ! » comme dit mon ami. Dans le 3ème lyft qui me mène à l’UTA Artist space j’écris. Du vin de l’art de la perf’ des nouveaux amis des photos des vidéos que demander de plus. « London Calling » passe à la radio. Le son de l’Angleterre raisonne à LA parmi les ronrons de V8. Je voudrais faire une perf’ sur le son des moteurs V8. Et aussi ouvrir des portes de grosses américaines, les pénétrer, me mettre au volant, les allumer une après l’autre. Vvvvvvra-Maouuuuuummmaou Me filmer faisant ça. Non stop à la chaîne les grosses bagnoles. Après la Frieze je m’attaque aux Ford Mustang, aux Dodge, aux Cadillac, aux Buick, aux Chevrolet, aux Lincoln, aux Plymouth. Ça... si je fais ça, ma vie sera transformée à tout jamais, l’image que j’ai de moi aura migré vers un truc limite « divinité ». Après ça, dans ma tête seulement, mais c’est là que ça compte le plus, je pourrais tout faire. Si je vis assez. Le plus cool des driver de Lyft vient de me déposer à UTA, conduite parfaite, belles accélérations quand il faut, tout en prêtant attention à chaque passager. Sa meuf passe un entretien à CBS, et donc demain sa journée est consacrée à l’amener deci-delà du coup ce soir il doit faire du fric, je vais lui filer un de ces pourboires! Moi aussi je fais du sponsoring! Sponsoring de meuf de lyft driver! Yeah!« Chuis » excitée car je « feel » que chuis « bankable » ici. Je ne sais pas ce que ça vaut, hein, toutes ces belles choses que je vis. « Ptet » je vis une grosse blague, genre dîner de conne puissance galerie à l’international mais je m’en fous je kiffe, j’y crois. J’arrive comme une furie joyeuse à UTA. Je salue Marc, Oscar, Larry et les autres. Je rencontre Tracy et son mec et son petit chien, elle est designeuse. Elle me réclame un selfy (et oui, j’en parle pas de ça, mais on me demande souvent des selfies à moi, enfin à La Bambina - et je dis toujours oui en filant un billet). Et puis je réclame un selfy à l’artiste Arcmanoro Niles. L’artiste file vers d’autres demandes de selfies. Je me retourne, et je la reconnais direct : Geneviève Gaillard. Elle est chez Praz Delavallade. Je lui dis que j’ai découvert son travail à Art-O-Rama Marseille. Non mais je peux quasi mourir maintenant. Enfin non pas tout de suite, j’ai de beaux projets à venir à LA, puis dès que je rentre à Toulouse deux beaux projets auprès de deux belles structures artistiques, voire trois, puis en 2021 à Carcassonne, puis d’autres qui vont m’être proposées parce qu’il le faut. C’est maintenant. Et c’est LA qui me le gueule.

[wellthatwasaletdown]

When I was talking about Harry’s promo being aimed at the GP, I was talking about things like SNL and Late Late. Print media is dying so I think those articles are about image / message shaping because they are read by interviewers. The same goes for some of his activities like Google camp and art gallery trips etc. VSF, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Met Gala were all about increasing his visibility to the GP. By contrast he does very little inward fan engagement like today’s twitter follows.

.

[longlistshort]

VSF gallery is currently showing The Harrisons’ Survival Piece #1: Air, Earth, Water, Interface: Annual Hog Pasture Mix, 1970-1971, part of The Getty’s Pacific Standard Time: Art & Science Collide.

On Thursday, 10/17, a local pig will enter the grow box to turn over the pasture in an iteration of the 2012 performance that took place at The Geffen Contemporary at MoCA.

From the gallery-

The first in their visionary series of Survival Pieces, “Hog Pasture,” as it is known by Harrison’s fans, emerged from a direct dialog with the most visionary and boundary pushing artists of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The impact of the Earth Day movement and the nascent cultural awareness that human beings were rapidly depleting the planet’s natural resources ignited a deep and sincere conversation within the art world about the stakes of art-making in the post-war, post-1968 world.

While later survival pieces highlighted a culminating harvest feast, Survival Piece #1 is focused on growth. The rectangular form of the raised planter bed and the grid of grow lights above echo sculptural innovations by artists like Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, and Richard Morris;  however, Newton Harrison had by this time decided that a sculpture or a painting was not enough. His artwork needed to not only have a moral purpose, it needed to strive to restore the earth and protect the abundant future of humans on our planet.

In 1971, shortly after their first foray into ecological art, Making Earth (which VSF exhibited earlier this year at Frieze LA and is now in the collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) Newton and Helen heard from David Antin that Virginia Gunter at the MFA Boston was curating a show titled Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: Elements of Art and wanted to include their work alongside contemporaries including Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, Hans Haacke, and others. Exploring ideas of growth and change, Gunter’s vision for the exhibition was meant to challenge conservative, formalist, Greenbergian ideas about art as well as expectations of the museum as an institution that primarily collected unchanging pictures and objects that somehow articulated the best ideas and techniques of the time in which they were made.

Interested in building on his use of artificial lights, Newton decided that he should actually grow something. He commissioned one of his painting students to look through seed catalogs to find a mixture that was “totally singular,” eventually landing on R.H. Shumway Seedsman’s Annual Hog Pasture Mix. In Boston, a large raised planter bed was built in a basement gallery of the museum, agricultural grow lights were installed in a parallel grid from the ceiling, a potent mix of manure, compost, worm castings, and other rich grow media were added to the planter bed, the seed mix was added, and a small pasture grew there with alarming speed. While Gunter wouldn’t allow a hog to come and graze the original hog pasture, subsequent exhibitions of the work, including Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974 curated by Miwon Kwon and Phillip Kaiser at MoCA in 2012, have brought the work to its natural conclusion and invited a pig in to enjoy the rich, velvety mix of legumes and grasses. Similarly, VSF has invited a hog to harvest the indoor meadow during the exhibition’s closing ceremony on October 17, 2024. The remaining pasture, earthworms, and soil mix will be gifted to visitors. We hope that you will join us while our porcine guest enjoys the first survival piece feast envisioned by Helen and Newton Harrison.

[strawberryteakitten]

Mentha Berry - Everyday Outfits

For her formal, athletic, and sleep wear click here. For her party and swim wear click here.   Available on the gallery! ID: StrawberryMeows

BASICS

Skin - Ms Blue                         Galaxy birthmark - Pastel Sims (Sadly I can’t                                                                                        find her anymore?)

Tattoo - valhallansim                 Eyes - vesim        Glasses -  KanoYa

Hair Down - Holosprite              Hair Up -  Holosprite

MAKEUP

Eye shadow - Bubblegum sim    Eyeliner - Praline sims

Lipstick - Spring Fling stuff custom pack

OUTFIT 1

Choker - Zauma                         Top - recolour by Pink Jelly Beans

Skirt - Holosprite                        Shoes - miuki-miuki

Legwarmers - simple simmer     Nails - Praline sims

OUTFIT 2

Top - Holosprite                           Shorts - Wildly Miniature Sandwich 

Sandals - Recolour by midnight sky sims       Nails - Praline sims

Bracelet - Base Game                  Necklace - Get Together

OUTFIT 3

Dungarees - VSF                        Cardigan - JSBoutique

Tights - Sim blob                         Shoes - Outdoor Retreat 

OUTFIT 4

Top - Zauma                               Jeans - Cutesims4 (I can’t seem to find them                                                                       anywhere though)

Shoes - MJ95                             Cardigan - Simple Simmer

Earrings - Leah Lillith

OUTFIT 5

Outfit - City Living                       Shoes - Outdoor Retreat

Necklace - Get Together            Earrings - Leah Lillith

[micaramel]

Artist: Calida Rawles

Venue: Various Small Fires, Los Angeles

Exhibition Title: A Dream for My Lilith

Date: February 12 – March 21, 2020

Click here to view slideshow

Full gallery of images, press release and link available after the jump.

Images:

Images courtesy of Various Small Fires, Los Angeles

Press Release:

“All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.”

-Toni Morrison

VSF is pleased to present A Dream for My Lilith, the gallery’s first solo exhibition with Calida Rawles. Reflecting on topographical matters which shape and hold black life, Rawles merges realism with poetic abstraction through immersive paintings using acrylic on canvas. With this exhibition, Rawles employs water as multifaceted material and space to consider possibilities of womanhood, tranquility, and otherworldliness.

A Dream for My Lilith expands on the legacy of Lilith, the mythological figure deemed the first wife of Adam, towards the notion of liberation and strength held in the bodies of black women and girls. Lilith is repositioned from a malevolent spirit at the antithesis of womanhood to a sovereign being who drifts in a realm of therapeutic possibilities. Influenced by contemporary black writers, like Claudia Rankine and Roxane Gay, and their approach to intersectionality, Rawles creates expansive visions of serenity in today’s turbulent times. Insisting upon the triumph of humanity, while also contending with anti-black violence/trauma, Rawles allows for Lilith to surface as a source of inspired rebellion.

Floating on ripples of cerulean and washes of deep cavernous blue, Rawles’ portraits envision black women in gowns of ivory floating in masses of unnamed water that nearly exceed the curb of the canvas. This non-place of water harbors moments of leisure and sensual delight along with spiritual relief and kinship. Water, with its historical connection to black suffering through Middle Passage and Jim Crow legislation, is also the architect of black serenity in escape and spiritual cleansing and is ever-present in Rawles’ paintings. Strokes of acrylic create textures of deep movement where figures sink and float within the canvas surface. At the same time, their gestures suggest the possibilities of peace in the face of uncertain bodies of water. Rawles works towards the allegorical potential of water and its boundless pursuits offering a new space for black healing.

A Dream for My Lilith is exhibited in two parts. The main gallery consists of Rawles’ portraits of women and girls drawn from her life. The project room highlights a series of studies done for Ta-nehisi Coates’ The Water Dancer (2019). Together these works regard water as a vernacular which can carry a commitment to both black belonging while signaling water’s tumultuous prospects.

Calida Rawles (born 1976, Wilmington, DE, lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) received her BA at Spelman College and her MA at New York University. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the LACMA Inglewood Art + Film Lab, Inglewood, CA; Fullerton College Art Gallery, CA; the San Francisco Arts Commission, San Francisco, CA; Walter Maciel Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; Papillon Art, Los Angeles, CA; and Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY.

Link: Calida Rawles at Various Small Fires

Contemporary Art Daily is produced by Contemporary Art Group, a not-for-profit organization. We rely on our audience to help fund the publication of exhibitions that show up in this RSS feed. Please consider supporting us by making a donation today.

from Contemporary Art Daily https://bit.ly/397KuJZ

[celebjar]

Sofie Rovenstine attend Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Intense Launch Party in New York 09-05-2019

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Sofie Rovenstine – Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Intense Launch Party in NY 05-09-2019 #VSFashionShow #vsfs Sofie Rovenstine attend Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Intense Launch Party in New York 09-05-2019

[cssnectar]

New #WebDesign Inspiration VSF (https://cssnectar.com/css-gallery-inspiration/vsf/) on CSS Nectar #webgallery

[motoooo]

World According to Mernet Lersen

Singing Monday Blues? Mernet Lersen's trippy paintings might help. Thank you for reading!

Mernet Lersen’s West Coast debut appeared to have been very positively received here in Los Angeles (sorry, the show at VSF had come down a few weeks ago; hopefully we’ll see more of her works in the near future). This 75-year-young Florida artist brought the otherworldly perspective to the scenes depicted from the ordinary, monotonous life. Built by highly geometric blocks and uncomfortably…

[longlistshort]

Quarantine, 2018, from Julie Curtiss’ exhibition Altered States at VSF gallery in Los Angeles in 2018.

From the press release from that show-

Depicting mostly female subjects in her works, Curtiss creates an undulating dreamscape where the depths of a woman’s psyche are as important and palpable as her body. Rife with swirling curvatures and oscillating lines that convey both physical movement as well as cognitive dissonance, Curtiss’ subjects are secretive and faceless, inhabiting uncanny narratives driven by the logic of dreams. Teetering between dichotomies of seduction and repulsion, feral and domestic, their countenances are strategically concealed with thick mounds of serpentine hair, clawed hands and razor-sharp nails that conjure the anatomy of cold-blooded beasts. For Curtiss’ latest series of paintings and gouaches on paper, marine imagery permeates the narratives: koi, lotuses, fishtails in lieu of feet, a lobster claw clasping a glossy manicured finger … a nod to the 1980s science-fiction film “Altered States,” whose protagonist descends into a bottomless search for the self by way of floatation tanks – sensory deprivation chambers filled with body-temperature saltwater (water being the Jungian dream symbol for the unconscious). While Curtiss invites us to dive deeper into the layered, mercurial mind of her subjects, we are inevitably faced with a reflection of our own subconscious.

She is currently showing her newer work, which includes sculptures, at White Cube Mason’s Yard, in an exhibition titled Monads and Dyads, closing 6/26/21.

[longlistshort]

Currently at Various Small Fires gallery in Los Angeles is Robin F. Williams’ painting exhibition, With Pleasure.

From the press release-

In a series of new paintings that re-imagine the coded narratives of American media, Williams isolates and derails the sexual suggestiveness, pandering strategies, and gendered objectifications utilized in representations of women.

Embodiments of feminine AIs (Siri and Alexa) as nude figures lend Williams’ paintings an air of consciousness, as if aware of the viewer and their own status as female simulacrum. Appropriated from cigarette ad campaigns, paintings such as Alive With Pleasure, Alexa Plays Ball, and Slow Clap subvert their cast of sexually compliant “cool girls” who catch footballs, play around the ankles of men, and smoke seductively. By contrast, Williams’ subjects are stone-faced and defiant, unwilling to embody the latent desires of the viewer.

Williams’ paintings play with chronology both through distinctive painting techniques such as stain painting and airbrushing, and through visual markers recreated and reimagined for the present day. In Slow Clap, a cigarette is replaced by the newer, yet equally ominous vape; a languid repose is substituted for a derisive “slow clap”, the gap between the subject’s hands leaving her gesture permanently unresolved. Eye on the Time depicts a black woman with tightly coiffed 1960s afro who impatiently turns her gaze away from the burning 4th of July sparkler in one hand to the wristwatch on her other arm, counting down the seconds for its patriotic light to extinguish. In Weathervane, a gymnast appropriated from a 1972 Life Magazine cover poses precariously on a rooftop amidst an approaching storm; she gazes out coldly toward the viewer, the purveyor of her ornamental function.

In each painting, Williams’ female figures wait, caught in a perpetual state of questioning, forever burning, and locking eyes as if to challenge their embodied roles: woman as technology, tool, or paragon. These figures, aware of their identity as paintings, must answer the call to remain frozen in time. They refuse, however, to do it with pleasure.

This show closes 10/26/19.