This contemporary artwork features a vibrant, colorful composition with a group of individuals depicted in a social setting. The bold, expressive brushstrokes create a sense of energy and movement, while the muted tones of the figures and the bar scene evoke a somber, contemplative mood. The artist's distinctive style blends figuration and abstraction, inviting the viewer to explore the interplay between the individual and the collective experience. The overall impression suggests a narrative about human connections and the complexities of social interactions, reflecting the artist's intention to capture the nuances of contemporary life. ...
Caitlin MacQueen lives and works in Los Angeles. She received her BFA from Cooper Union and her MFA from Rutgers University.
MacQueen has handled each of her reference images for years. In low resolution, on printer paper; creasing, spilling coffee, smudging ink and blurring the image. These references take form slowly, repeating motifs and characters with an almost performative endurance. Her selection draws attention to both the pervasive influence of cinematography on visual storytelling, and the specificity of her own imagination. Skeptical mimicry becomes a pathway towards pictorial reconstruction. By imagining the same scene scaled in toothsome paint or carefully framed graphite, MacQueen’s work rewards a close inspection of continuity and variation. Is this the same lady in red? A different man in that car? Subtle articulations like the gesture of a hand, the color around the eyes, smudges next to the face, lend an atmosphere of perpetual mystery.
While MacQueen almost always focuses on persona, she rarely paints a portrait. Her figures display a studied attention to affect and costume, while faces are left gently enigmatic. Drawing on the historical tradition of Pierre Bonnard and other members of the Post-Impressionist Les Nabis painters, MacQueen uses oil paint’s special ability to render form with graphic precision or mucky am-bivalence. Abstract elements of her work are hidden in plain sight. MacQueen’s nostalgic vocabulary eschews novelty, determined instead to see the present anew by uncovering the blueprints of our pop cultural consciousness. It’s tempting to say that MacQueen’s slowed down image-relationship is the opposite of internet media oversaturation, but it’s actually an articulation of how, even now, we have no control over what moments stick with us. Beyond logic, we become attached to various punctuations of culture and style. MacQueen’s studied reenactments touch on that capricious bond, wondering why we love the things we love. ...
Hannah Hoffman, Los Angeles opened in May 2013. The gallery maintains a program of international contemporary artists alongside historical exhibitions with a particular focus on feminist and conceptual practices.
