David Molesky: Her @ Andra Norris Gallery
Review by Juxtapox
Molesky’s Brooklyn studio with works in progress and his dog Oskar.
This week marks the end of an online exhibition hosted by Andra Norris Gallery of new figurative works by longtime Juxtapoz contributor David Molesky. The paintings depict female subjects at ease with their solitude. Whether basking in light from a nearby window or communing with vast natural settings, the figures in these paintings exhibit a harmony with the surrounding world. This empathetic viewpoint invites us to cultivate a sense of peace with the bigger picture outside of the canvas.
Following the age-old advice of “paint what you know, paint what you love,” the body of work is an unstaged—unposed view of the people, creatures, and spaces familiar to the artist. The canvases serve as windows into a private intimate world. Using his live/work studio in Brooklyn for the interior compositions as well as some favorite nature spots in upstate New York and beyond, Molesky creates atmospheric spaces that one could imagine walking into.
Painted over the last several years, the series forays into subtle stylistic shifts and color palettes. More recently, Molesky is departing from a 19th-century finish towards one that does not merely illustrate reality. His latest works selectively obscur detail while choosing to enhance others. Additionally, the recent works consciously move away from specific identities in effort to increase the compostion’s relatability and focus its content towards aspects of shared humanity. As one critic pointed out, “in the more realistic works, I see what that scene looks like. In the newer works, I see what that scene feels like.”