Katherine Sherwood
Fierce Women and Their Flowers
Joseph Alef, Susan Janow, Tony Pedemonte, Aurie Ramirez & Ron Veasey
Shine Light on an Owl's Face
curated by Katherine Sherwood
walter maciel gallery
14 May – 2 July 2022
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 14, 3:00 – 7:00pm
Katherine Sherwood, After Giovanna Garzoni, 2020. Mixed media on found cotton, 51 x 35 inches.
Walter Maciel Gallery is pleased to present Fierce Women and Their Flowers featuring new work by Katherine Sherwood. The show includes paintings on the backsides of found Art History reproductions from her ongoing Venuses of the Yelling Clinic and Brain Flowers series as well as a distinct group of early figurative works.
The new acrylic paintings include large female nudes juxtaposed with small to mid-sized still-life paintings. Sherwood continues her process of re-imagining the heroines of her Venus paintings with a specific disability such as a leg brace, arm harness or prosthetic. In 1997 she suffered a cerebral hemorrhage which caused paralysis on the right side of her body limiting her to the use of her left hand. Unlike the earlier Venus paintings that featured Sherwood’s versions of famous reclining nude women who gaze towards the viewer, the new work references nude subjects who are shown from behind either looking back towards the viewer or away with their faces completely obscured. As noted in the painting Rear, based on François Boucher’s painting entitled The Odalisque, a nearly nude woman is seen laying on her stomach with her legs open and a loose-fitting garment falling off her shoulders gathering on her lower back. The vulnerable gesture is enhanced by the woman’s head turned towards the viewer with a look of innocence. In Sherwood’s version the woman’s left leg is shown amputated with a fitted prosthetic and the seductive shadowing of Boucher’s painted sheets is replaced with a flattened geometric pattern that immediately identifies the work as that of Sherwood. The face and hair of the woman have been abstracted with the use of skillfully arranged scans of the human brain that are made of rice paper and collaged on to the surface. Another nude referencing the Portuguese painter, Josefa de Óbidos depicts a self-portrait of Sherwood seen from behind and with her leg brace attached to her right leg. The figure holds a red drape while standing defiantly on an ornate stool under a floral wreath much like in the original painting, Salvator Mundi.
In comparison reproductions of floral still-life paintings from the Brain Flowers series reference lesser-known artworks by female artists working in Europe during the 17th century. Sherwood’s source material includes a diverse range of paintings by Josefa de Óbidos, Flemish artist Clara Peeters, Italian artist Giovanna Garzoni, Dutch artists Maria van Oosterwijck and Rachel Ruysch and German-born artist Maria Sibylla Merian. The still-life paintings are rendered in a similar format and style used in earlier works representing 19th century European male painters and continue to incorporate Sherwood’s personal MRI scans. In the painting Dying Marigold after Rachel Ruysch a vase with lushly painted flowers rests upon a flattened table-top with a brown and pale blue polka dot patterned surface. The colorful bouquet includes occasional sepia-toned flowers made of clusters of brain scans that blend in wonderfully with their painted counterparts. All of the artists Sherwood emulates in this series of botanical subjects operated in the conjoined realms of art and science and made aesthetic choices that added nuance and meaning to their work.
Katherine Sherwood, Aggressive Women and Female Martyrs (St. Maria Goretti), 1978. Acrylic, graphite and collage on board with found gilt wooden frame, 19 x 22.5 inches.
Selected works from three older series including Aggressive Women and Female Martyrs, Insurance Salesmen and Female Impersonators will be presented in the back gallery. The subjects of Aggressive Women and Female Martyrs (1978) compare the commitment of the role of the dominatrix to that of historical female saints. These loosely painted, modern icons were done on found boards and junk store frames and capture the rawness of Sherwood’s early figurative works. This series was followed by the Female Impersonators (1983) which explored issues of gender and feminism on portrait-sized oval canvases. The last series of Insurance Salesmen (1982) depicts tightly rendered portraits in black and white with an uncanny exploration of masculinity and capitalism.
Ron Veasey, Untitled (RVe 186), 2019. Acrylic on paper, 43.75 × 30.25 inches.
Joseph Alef, Susan Janow, Tony Pedemonte, Aurie Ramirez & Ron Veasey
Shine Light on an Owl's Face
curated by Katherine Sherwood
In conjunction with her exhibition, Fierce Women and Their Flowers, Katherine Sherwood presents Shine Light on an Owl's Face featuring the work of Joseph Alef, Susan Janow, Tony Pedemonte, Aurie Ramirez, and Ron Veasey. These artists all work with Creative Growth, a non-profit organization in Oakland that facilitates the inclusion of artists with developmental disabilities in contemporary art by providing a professional studio environment and gallery representation. The nationally recognized artists that are part of their creative community are uniquely situated to speak to the experience of people with developmental and cognitive disabilities.
Joseph Alef makes active paintings that radiate with energy. Blending a broad spectrum of colors with gestural and drip elements, he has created his own expressive visual language. Often beginning with delicate fields of color, Alef then integrates linear and distinct graphic elements that create sculptural effects.
Susan Janow approaches her drawings with a methodical and meditative focus. Beginning with an open hand-drawn grid, she meticulously fills in each shape with fine lines that resemble faintly moving curtains. This process of intensive crosshatching is precise and introspective, as Janow works with unbroken focus. She is also widely recognized for her video work which is in the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Museum.
Tony Pedemonte constructs armatures of wood and recycled materials that he wraps in layers of yarn and thread until the structure is nearly concealed. Pedemonte works with high energy and intention - following his own intuition and never pausing to consider his next move. His work is an athletic or performative feat, grounded by the use of his body as a tool for expression.
Aurie Ramirez’s sophisticated and delicately rendered watercolor and ink compositions create a fantasy world of 18th century dandyism, neo-Victorian decorum, psychedelia, glam rock sex, and anthropomorphic food. With imagery ranging from saccharine landscapes with smiling suns to punk fetishism and hardcore erotica, Ramirez explores sexuality, fashion, violence, and forbidden foods.
Ron Veasey’s fundamental interest is the human form as a vehicle for color and line. Whether a sloping neck or a glancing eye, his carefully considered portraits are completed methodically and with great intention. The result is an image that is a distillation of color and form, where the gaze of the portrait becomes the fundamental subject of the work, unflinching in its connection with the viewer.
Sherwood taught the course Art, Medicine, and Disability while Professor of Painting at the UC Berkeley Department of Art Practice and played an important role in the university’s Disability Studies program. A longtime admirer and supporter of Creative Growth, she is currently serving on their Board of Directors.
walter maciel gallery
located in the Culver City Arts District:
2642 s. la cienega blvd.
los angeles. ca 90034
310 839 1840
Gallery hours
Tuesday – Saturday, 11am – 6pm
And by appointment