LOUISE BONNET: NEW WORKS
© Louise Bonnet
Galerie Max Hetzler is presenting new large-scale paintings by LA-based artist Louise Bonnet, in her first solo exhibition in the UK. London, 16 January – 29 February 2020.
Known for her portraits of voluminous bodies, Bonnet presents the weight of human stresses and emotions in physical form. In her paintings, the figures’ bodies swell and bloat to exaggerated proportions, as though heavy with the feelings of the mind.
Simple actions, like kneeling or hiding, stretch and bend the bodies into uncomfortable extremes, often bringing the figures to the edge of the canvas itself. Interested in the tension of limbs, muscles and the materials that cover them, Bonnet transforms the human form as we know it, all the while retaining a masterful sense of corporeality.
Treading a fine line between humour and discomfort, comedy and tragedy, the anonymous figures are staged in isolation often against diminished backgrounds, their physicality rendering them statuesque yet faceless. The figures are dramatically lit in settings that border the surreal, from sparse domestic rooms, to moonlit tables. Inspiration for Bonnet’s works derive from such multiple sources as Hitchcock film scenes, Cindy Sherman works, Lucas Cranach paintings, and Renaissance portraits. These references usually appear as distorted as the depicted bodies themselves.
© Louise Bonnet
Louise Bonnet (*1970, Geneva) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent solo exhibitions include Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2018, 2016); Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (2018) and Half Gallery, New York (2017). Bonnet participated in group exhibitions at Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles (2019); Gagosian, New York (2019); Anton Kern Gallery, New York (2018); Almine Rech Gallery, New York (2018); Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (2017); Half Gallery, New York (2016); Gagosian Gallery, Athens (2016); M+B, Los Angeles (2016); König Galerie, Berlin (2016); The Lodge, Los Angeles (2015) and Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles (2008). Bonnet's works can be found in the collections of the Denver Art Museum; LACMA, Los Angeles and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.