Elena Redmond and Alexandra Smith “Be A Body”

Launch F18

[Image: Alexandra Smith "Thing Bruise" (2021) Oil on canvas , 18 x 18 in.]

This event has ended.

LAUNCH F18 presents Be A Body, featuring new works from artists Elena Redmond and Alexandra Smith. Be A Body is on view for one more week.

Reclaiming outside spectatorship through the depiction of highly intimate moments, Redmond and Smith draw from personal experience to create works seeped in memory, informed greatly by uncontrived experiences in womanhood.

Curated by Danielle Dewar and Marlee Katz of Tchotchke Gallery, the works on view purposely situate the viewer in close proximity to the psyche of each painter. By way of self-portraiture and working from a personal archive of photographs, Redmond and Smith transform private experiences into bold paintings which marry intimate versus collective, encouraging a nuanced response to these distinctive moments in time.

The notions of impulse and voyeurism have a firm foothold in both artist’s practice which are brought to life via the use of fresh, bold washes of color. “I desire the individuals that inhabit my paintings and the settings in which they exist,” affirms Smith. “As well, silent suspense builds for the viewer as they might wonder when they will be caught looking,” adds Redmond.

Multi-layered and complex, some of the paintings are underpinned with memory, while others have manifested from fantasy; however, all explore relationships between the viewer and the figure presented on each canvas. In paintings such as Don’t beat yourself up over it (2021), Redmond exposes her hypercritical nature set in an imaginative, combative scenario. “I tried to show that inner monologue, back-and-forth feeling, of working against yourself and showing no sympathies. This painting is about fighting with yourself and wondering who will get the KO,” she states.

Other works in the exhibition depict a contrasting view of the self, one that explores acceptance and sensuality. Smith’s works call upon the viewer’s gaze by magnifying human touch, expressing shared carnal experiences. “This proximity to the skin, fingers, and sensuality of the body summons your gaze. While these works depict specific moments, they also serve as an offering,” notes Smith.