Judith Linhares
“Hearts on Fire”
New York, 535 West 22nd Street
Rooted in the California Bay Area Counter Culture of the 60s and 70s, Linhares’ practice combines modes of abstract expressionism with Bay Area figuration to create uniquely irradiant paintings. Linhares, whose prolific career spans nearly four decades, is now receiving due recognition for her lasting influence on feminist figuration and its recent resurgence.
Hearts on Fire, a title that references the commercial name for a particular cut of diamond, describes a singular fantastical universe in which men are removed from the pictorial landscape. With her distinctly lush, almost edible, colors, Linhares depicts mythological women communing with nature alongside colorful portraits of farm animals and floral still lives. In works such as Saturday Morning, Linhares reimagines the genre of history painting with her long-limbed female figures who, when left alone, express a joy and languid ease. Sexual without being sexy, these Eves lay claim to their domestic and natural landscape. Whether climbing trees, riding on horseback, or delighting in drunken revelry, the sirens of Hearts on Fire toil together to build fairy tales and mythologies all their own.
Beginning each work with an exploration of the paint itself, Linhares utilizes abstract fields of color to gradually pull out her subjects. Fueled by the permissive, psychedelic atmosphere of the 1960s, Linhares continues to investigate the relationship between the conscious and unconscious – her dreams often providing her work with their mythic narratives, characters, and kaleidoscopic compositions that pulsate with color. Her dream journals were recently acquired by the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.
