On view through May 1, 2021, Skunk Grove at David Kordansky, LA is the first solo show debuting Lucy Bull’s latest body of work. Each of the large-scaled paintings available alludes to the viewer’s most basic instincts. The artist is known to use color as a way to generate reactions from the spectator, and Skunk Grove is the ultimate culmination of this practice. Throughout the new body of work, Bull implements a use of extremely contrasted colors to generate a product that can only be described as energy fields that will be interpreted differently depending on the given spectator. Her use of repeated patterns, scratched surfaces that reveal buried layers of paint, and an unparalleled freehanded motion allow the canvas to come to life in such a sincere and unhindered way, that time will never seem sufficient when observing her work.
Pussy Willow, 2021, oil on linen, 69 x 120 x 1 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
Across the large gallery space at David Kordansky, LA, each canvas hangs, curated in such a way where somehow the order makes sense to the viewer, providing us to converse with each work independently and then as a whole. One is left with an overall analysis on a deeply energetic level of what the overall body of work looks to incite in the viewer. Take Pussy Willow (above). When faced with the bright greens and pinks that govern the composition, the viewer finds themselves looking to make some sense of the evident movement protruding across the canvas. We look for horizon lines, or concrete figures that may allow us to gain a sense of depth or perspective. Rather, what we find within the work are lighter and darker color variations that tease depth, but never fully confirm it. The plain could just as easily be two-dimensional, as it could be four-dimensional. Therefore, any conclusion that is made is completely valid and independent to the viewer themselves.
Last Dial, 2020, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 x 1 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
Bull uses the mind’s eye as a driving factor in the production of her work. Through her clear understanding of light and composition, each painting lures the viewer in through its color combinations. As a dialogue commences and the mind’s associative attempts begin to take hold, the viewer is faced with a universe of avenues through which they can interpret each work. Because there’s no sense to be made within the ebbing and flowing of the figures that appear and disappear, not to mention the bizarre and creative titles of each painting, the meaning of each work shifts constantly between the artist’s presence through her stroke, and the viewers’ interpretation. Last Dial (above) for example, contains an added component of surrealism. As a constant subject to pareidolia, my mind goes straight into finding a face within such a level of abstraction.
5:00, 2021, oil on linen, 69 x 120 x 1 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
The artist works closely within the realm of the unknown, to generate an active dydactic between the works on canvas and the viewer experiencing them. Broad characterizations of order and chaos, of reality and the lack thereof, all play a major role in the work of Lucy Bull. “Unable to discern what came first or last, time and space appear for artist and viewer alike as elliptical, self-generating feedback loops. The effect is a kind of rapturous disorientation, one made more intense by Bull’s color combinations which reach toward the etheral, border on the grotesque, and expose the tender, vulnerable places where [the] conscious and unconscious collide”. The result is a collection of dream-like realities, each as deep in concept, as intricate in detail and identity.
Stinger, 2021, oil on linen, 54 x 79 x 1 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
The LA based artist has often worked with these conceptual dynamics. Skunk Grove, however, brings her practice to reach new heights– and depths– as she draws from the human psyche and harnesses tose forces to carry out her work. After a year (and a quarter) of such world change, seeing Bull’s work on canvas feels like seeing into one’s own mind. The artist has successfully materialized the abstract and nonsensical nature of the subconscious, and we can’t help but feel closely related to her work. Continue scrolling to see featured works in detail.
Detail of Crooked Coda, 2020 oil on linen, 48 x 36 x 1 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
Detail of Last Dial, 2020, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 x 1 1/2 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
Detail of Evening Switch, 2021 oil on linen, 79 x 54 x 1 inches, Courtesy of the artist and David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles, Photography: Jeff McLane
