Everything I Can Fit, in a Dream-Pod

Jennifer Meanley
July 26th - September 7th, 2019

We are alone in this world. We may have others in our lives, but only we know our own true self, if there is such a thing. It is a truth that is kicked against, and it is this kicking that makes life beautiful and interesting. It is from this vantage point that we might enter into Jennifer Meanley’s paintings. Among swirling backdrops of vibrant colors and surreal, exotic environments where perspective is fluid, figures are situated in various tableaux of angst, ritual, and conspiracy. There is sexual, moral, familial, historical, and spatial ambiguity in the scenes depicted. The art historical references and motifs swirl as well: Fauvism as cast among New Objectivity, the Cretan School filtering through Neo-expressionism, Titian as played by Neo Rauch, Beckmann crashing into Milton Avery. These elements conspire to address the eternal human dilemma of consciousness and its effect on interpersonal relationships. These enigmatic figures in their strange and unknowable scenes strive to know one another, to overcome the impassable gulf between individuals. They become heroes and heroines in an eternal war for connection, fraught with spectacular triumphs and stupendous failures. You can look into the eyes of these figures, these odd Byzantine eyes sourced through Alice Neel, and see what we all see, ourselves, and wonder what we all wonder, will I ever be known, will I ever know another.