The artist Ximena Rendón has curated the exhibition MUSE, to be presented at SHOH Gallery (Berkeley, CA), which specializes in art from the Bay Area. On view will be paintings and drawings that focus primarily on the female form.
Rendón intentionally selected a mix of female and male artists: Eliza Ivanova, Jeremy Mann, Nadezda, Aaron Nagel, Zach Oldenkamp, Karla Ortiz, Albert Ramos, Ximena Rendón, Helice Wen, and Ondrea Wicklund. The opening reception is set for June 8.
Nadezda presents us with her “Doll House” series: seven small paintings that have us looking at the muse through the artist’s interpretation of antique dolls found in a Moscow shop, each doll being its maker’s interpretation of a past living woman.
Ximena Rendón shares three ethereal paintings on aluminum that each explore the border between the worlds of the body, the spirit, and our own unconscious. In looking at her work in MUSE, we question what is real or apparition.
Jeremy Mann places both of his subjects in darkened spaces, only emerging for the viewer through soft light as though from a fireplace or early dawn breaking through a window. This light and his elegant and sensual brushstrokes give his works an intimacy that mesmerizes.