Marais, Paris
Emily Coan
Nightshades
Long Story ShortLong Story Short is thrilled to present Nightshades, the Paris debut of American artist Emily Coan. Nightshades marks the completion of Emily Coan's ongoing “Spider Silk” series with narrative exemplifying the culmination of the womens’ quest through this perilous realm. What was golden and earthy – an experience of conscious participation with community, nature, and creation by the light of the sun will fade into night. The Nightshades paintings are jewel tones – phthalos and magentas. Instead of yellow underpaintings, Coan will employ Prussian green and Viridian. The sisters will transcend the stairs into twilight adorned with their protective shrouds. As Coan describes: “The work is over. After toiling by day to weave garments made of spider silk, the sisters wait in anticipation of their somnambulate journey.” Emily Coan (b. 1991 St. Petersburg, Florida) is an artist based in the Hudson Valley, NY. In 2013, she received her BFA in Sculpture from the University of Florida and moved to New York City as a painter in 2015. Compositionally complex, multilayered oil paintings are the vehicle for Coan’s storytelling, conjuring a world where female protagonists confront femininity, womens’ labor, and power. The work is set in fairytale-esque environments inspired by the Hudson Valley. Coan’s work has been featured in Interview Magazine, T Magazine, Artnet, Whitewall, New American Paintings, and even Playboy. She has recently exhibited in group shows with Sargent’s Daughters, (Lost Angeles), Nino Mier (New York City), de boer (Los Angeles), Gowen Contemporary (Geneva), Kutlesa Gallery (Goldau), and Palazzo Monti (Brescia). Her fifth solo show, Spider Silk at DIMIN (New York), happened in 2024 (March 15 - April 20). Coan’s work has been included in an exhibition at Pond Society in Shanghai in March 2025.