Sophie Matisse "It's Time"

Francis M. Naumann Fine Art

poster for Sophie Matisse "It's Time"

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Sophie Matisse’s recent paintings mark a shift away from what she is best known for, which is convincing variations of paintings by famous artists, ranging from Leonardo and Vermeer to Pierre Bonnard and her great-grandfather, Henri Matisse. In those works, she removed what was the center of attention—that is to say, all the human figures. Her "Las Meninas" (2001) shows an empty room, Velasquez’s figures having presumably left. Despite the use of quotation, her paintings were neither ironic nor parodies. The missing figures evoked absence, longing, and the passing of time. We will all, one day, be absent.

In her recent paintings, an awareness of time and absence continues as the central concern. The work is derived from the notebooks filled with small gouaches, often incorporating collage, which the artist has been making for years. In many cases, done while she is traveling, she began thinking of them as source material.

In the gouaches, Matisse generally divides the surface into brightly colored, interlocking geometric shapes, which follow no overriding design. The curving and twisting froms range from solid blocks of color to atmospheric grounds, in which the color bleeds into the paper. Rather than quoting a well-known work, she seems to be riffing on the abstractions of Lyubov Popova and Joan Miro. These surfaces are the grounds upon which she affixes her collage elements, which compellingly confound the figure/ground relationship.

Media

Schedule

from May 04, 2012 to June 15, 2012

Opening Reception on 2012-05-10 from 17:00 to 20:00
Gallery Night on 57th Street

Artist(s)

Sophie Matisse

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