Alchemy Gallery‘s latest exhibition presents the vibrant, introspective works of three dynamic painters: Heather Benjamin, Christina Allan and Kelly Shami, opening on June 18th. Titled Fem, this revelatory group exhibition showcases the three artists’ distinct, yet complementary artistic styles: each canvas bearing its own unique, striking subject created with layers of paint and symbolism – bright, bold palettes of color that provide a visceral allure, while offering a glimpse into the various life experiences of each of these incredible artists.
“Each of these artists have developed their own fierce and specific aesthetic that I think really challenges any traditional notion of what “female painters” have ever been,” explains Alchemy Gallery’s co-founder, Jess de la Hunty. “They are each determined, both in their artistic prowess and in the savviness with which they conduct their business; they are utterly dedicated to their practice and the creation of something that is uniquely their own.”
Heather Benjamin’s most recent creations are her largest to date; allowing the vivid superhero-esque feminine figures central to her work to grow in scale, to a size that truly embodies their power. Influenced by iconography including the original Sailor Moon artwork of Naoko Takeuchi and Henry Darger’s Vivian Girls, Benjamin has created her own squad of superhero goddesses to represent the many facets and trials of womanhood. Her work is a meditation on her own personal experiences with her femininity, portraying moments of dysmorphia, anxiety and trauma, while simultaneously exuding strength and confidence. By creating visions of new female archetypes that break the patriarchal grip and gaze, she in turn hopes her work can inspire viewers to harness their own power.
Christina Allan’s fantastical paintings are informed by philosophical ideas, including existentialist writings, and the mythology of ancient civilizations. Inspired by her own transformative experiences during the pandemic, her newest series of work presents dream-like scenes of otherworldly runaways that embark on an adventure through an ambiguous natural realm. She displays a humanistic portrayal of skeletal, reaper-like figures, which are recurring central characters in the artist’s work, blended with iconography of human and material culture. Each piece is an energetic blend of bold and hazy spray-painted and airbrushed forms in carefully constructed compositions that seek to challenge traditional societal roles of being in pursuit of an authentic existence. Skeletal figures fleeing to new destinations and freedoms urge the viewer to celebrate the act of leaving, whether from a career, relationship, or lifestyle, through powerful scenes of liberation.
Kelly Shami’s early studies focused on the first women of surrealism including influences like Dorothea Tanning, Leonora Carrington, and Frida Kahlo, who are today some of her main inspirations. Finding parallels in the restraints of growing up as an Arab woman to the restraints of the first women to pioneer Surrealism, Shami’s intriguing paintings routinely combine the natural and unnatural. Flowers altered with piercings turn stationary objects into lifelike forms. The piercings, a form of alteration she experimented with at a young age to feel in control, allow Shami’s delicate oil paintings to exist as a series of complex self portraits, while the expertly rendered metallic surfaces of the piercings create a mirrored effect that encourages self-reflection.
Fem is open through July 17th.
