In this episode, Grace Weaver brings us into her Brooklyn studio while working in quarantine, sharing her diverse influences and discussing the psychological complexities of the female figures in her recent body of work. These figures exist within a "theater of public life." Alienation versus belonging, cruelty versus connection—the pains, pleasures, and anxieties of everyday existence are writ large in this collective space. Weaver playfully explores the contradictions embedded in this social fabric: who has power, who is powerless; who is revealed, and who is hidden from the gaze of the viewer. Her paintings turn an incisive yet empathetic eye onto the self-conscious performativity and precarious footing of her contemporaries.
This video was produced on the occasion of Grace Weaver's solo exhibition STEPS, on view at James Cohan from July 15 through September 12, 2020.
