venus apocalypse - patricia watwood · venus apocalypse, 2013, oil on canvas, 64 x 40 inches sold...
TRANSCRIPT
On June 6, Venus Apocalypse, an exhibition of Patricia Watwood ‘s new work, opens at Dacia Gallery, New York. In a dozen paintings and drawings the artist places female nudes within dystopian urban landscapes, further exploring themes introduced in her
2012 solo exhibition at the Forbes Gallery, New York. By juxtaposing classical figuration, particularly the archetype of Venus, with environmental decay, Watwood suggests the necessity of cultural and ecological transformation, and the enduring
primacy of feminine power and aesthetic beauty.
“I am not so much interested in women as a subject as I am in women as a presence. I’m not trying to create an object so much as a force.” - Patricia Watwood
“Beauty cannot be sundered from understanding or desire. The most abstract and intel-lectual beauty provokes the urge to possess it no less than the sensual inspires the passion to know it better…. No easy distinction between body and spirit, inner and outer, super-
ficial and deep can accommodate its complexity.” - Alexander Nehamas.
On Beauty(They say) Art no longer produces Beauty.
She produces meaningbut
(I say) One cannot paint a picture of or make an image of a woman
and not deal with the concept of Beauty.-Marlene Dumas
“Beauty is the name of a particular interaction between two beings, a “self ” and an “Other”: “I find an Other beautiful….Value is always central to the meaning of beauty.” - Wendy Steiner
Paintings:Venus Apocalypse, 2013, oil on canvas, 64 x 40 inches soldSleeping Venus, 2013, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 inches $24,000Venus Awakes, 2011, oil on canvas, 38 x 34 inches $22,000Fallen Angel, 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 inches $14,000Faith in the Wilderness, 2011, oil on canvas 16 x 20 oval $9,500Red Sibyl, 2013, oil on canvas, 16 x 12 inches $4,000Blue Sibyl, 2013, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches $6,000Danae, 2013, oil on canvas, 32 x 20 inches $14,000Imago/Imagination, 2013, oil on canvas, 17 x 22 inches $12,500
Dacia Gallery53 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002(917) 727-9383
PatriciaWatwood.com
Drawings: $1500 eachDrawing for Venus Apocalypse, 2012, pencil and gold watercolor on toned paper, 22 x 15 inchesDrawing for Sleeping Venus, 2012, pencil and gold watercolor on toned paper, 22 x 15 inches
Drawing for Fallen Angel, 2012, sanguine and chalk on toned paper, 15 x 22 inches
Price List
Catalog design: Mary Von der HeydtPhotography: Stefan Hagen
All images copyright Patricia Watwood