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Loie Hollowell

Contractions

Past
Mar 1 – Mar 13, 2022
Palm Beach
 
Exhibition Details:

Loie Hollowell
Contractions
March 1 – 13, 2022

Gallery:

The Royal Poinciana Plaza
340 Royal Poinciana Way
Suite M333
Palm Beach

Connect:

(opens in a new window) @loiehollowell
(opens in a new window) @pacegallery

Above: Loie Hollowell, Split orbs in purple, mauve, and green, 2021 © Loie Hollowell

Pace is pleased to present an exhibition of five new paintings by Loie Hollowell from her Split Orb series, which comprises sculptural paintings focused on the process of childbirth.

Taking a unique approach to color, form, and texture, the artist renders the physical experience of labor immediate and visceral.

"These works are an extension of an idea that I first explored in a ​nine-part painting series, where each split opening was representative of the nine centimeters of dilation the cervix must undergo in preparation to push out a baby," Hollowell says. “I see the consecutive nature as a kind of meditation, with each opening capturing the sensation of that moment of dilation. So, when the works are viewed in totality,you're moving through the act of giving birth in time and space. You step from one to the other, from one contraction to the next.”

The five paintings in this show continue that examination, this time utilized as an exploration of more formal color compositions. Slightly removed from the context of the first series iteration, these works are as much color experiments as they are paintings about giving birth. Hollowell’s paintings often reflect the fantastical, uncanny nature of sexuality, pregnancy, and birth. Employing her distinctive manipulation of gradients, geometries, and dimensionality, the artist blurs the boundary between figuration and abstraction.

Beyond Pace’s Palm Beach gallery, Hollowell’s work can be found in the collection of the ICA Miami. She was the subject of a major solo exhibition at the Long Museum in Shanghai in 2021, and in 2019 her work was featured in a solo show marking the inauguration of Pace’s 540 West 25th Street gallery in New York.

 

Featured Works

Loie Hollowell, Split orbs in purple, mauve, and green, 2021, oil paint, acrylic medium and high density foam on linen over panel, 48" × 36" × 3-3/4" (121.9 cm × 91.4 cm × 9.5 cm)
Loie Hollowell, Split Orbs in teal, purple, pink, and yellow, 2021, oil paint, acrylic medium and high density foam on linen over panel, 48" × 36" × 3-3/4" (121.9 cm × 91.4 cm × 9.5 cm)
Loie Hollowell, Split Orbs in yellow, purple, and blue, 2022, oil paint, acrylic medium and high density foam on linen over panel, 48" × 36" × 3-3/4" (121.9 cm × 91.4 cm × 9.5 cm)
Loie Hollowell, Split Orbs in red, lavender and mauve, 2022, oil paint, acrylic medium and high density foam on linen over panel, 48" × 36" × 3-3/4" (121.9 cm × 91.4 cm × 9.5 cm)
Loie Hollowell, Split Orbs in purple, ochre, and brown, 2021, oil paint, acrylic medium and high density foam on linen over panel, 48" × 36" × 3-3/4" (121.9 cm × 91.4 cm × 9.5 cm)
 
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About the Artist

Known for paintings and drawings that explore the bodily landscape, Loie Hollowell’s practice exists in the liminal space between abstraction and figuration, otherworldly and corporeal. Originating in autobiography, her work explores themes of sexuality, pregnancy and birth. Hollowell’s geometric compositions use symbolic shapes such as the mandorla, ogee, and lingam to build her distinctive visual lexicon.

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