Cecily Brown.
Theres something about her depiction of the naked body that is so satisfying. She doesn't lie about the shapes, she doesn't fake any flawless seams, she just crafts abstract expressionist globs of pure sex. Her figures tend to creep behind the dense structure of the paint, into forms reminiscent of Cezanne's, creating a dreamy elusiveness.
Her kaliedoscopic, anti-academic diatribes suggest sexual deviance while drawing limits for themselves, being shy - not telling the whole story. I think that even people who curse abstract expressionism can find appreciation for her work. It leaves a lot of room to put the pieces together for yourself, but not in a blindingly formless way like Pollock or even deKooning.
Some of her images remind me of watching interviews on the news wherein the person wants to remain anonymous so their face is blurred out. There's a strength paired with cowardice in those figures sometimes, and I feel like Brown does that with her art.
It's not about being explicit, raw and bloody dirty but about giving the viewer a simple outline, and allowing them to fill in the blanks, plug in their own fantasies, and turn it into something that really belongs to them.
Whatever it may be.
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