Venous System

Lomex is pleased to present Venous System; Phoebe Nesgos’ debut solo exhibition with the gallery and her first major New York presentation. Phoebe Nesgos’ paintings set a series of nude female figures in uncanny terrains that phase in and out of focus. All titled Venous System, in reference to the vascular network that carries deoxygenated blood to the heart, the works present a sequence of bodies that reference their own constructions as well as the physical relationships between the canvases and between the painter and her models. Drawing from both classical and modern traditions, they bring to mind the anatomic attention of the works of Hyman Bloom, the extreme performances of Ron Athey, the early work of Susan Rothenberg, and the lush romantic femininity of the landscapes of Arthur Davies. Made through a cumulative process of mark making and erasure, by the repeated sanding down of the canvas and the subsequent building up of many layers of paint, the works present their figures with no hierarchy between their bodies and surroundings. A space both simultaneously psychological and fantastic, the pictures struggle with their own material and slip in and out of obscurity. Phoebe Nesgos (b. 1993, New York, NY) lives and works in New York, NY. Recent exhibitions include Bianca D’Alessandro, Copenhagen, Denmark; Lomex, New York, NY; Neue Alte Brücke, Frankfurt, Germany; Ed. Varie, New York, NY; and a solo exhibition at Barrister’s Gallery, New Orleans, LA.