For someone so young, Chloe Wise has already made a serious name for herself in the art world. Along with her huge Instagram following, she’s made fans far and wide with her work that plays largely on themes of consumer culture and social media trends.
The Almine Rech Gallery is currently playing host to the first Chloe Wise exhibition to take place in London, Not That We Don’t. Featuring her trademark oil painting portraits, installations and sculptures the show is an intimate exploration of,
“vital and voluntary social rituals permitting collective harmony”.
Here many of Wise’s subjects are placed in ambiguous situations, often suggesting a familiar event such as a party or theatrical production, in which she focuses on the “unspoken dynamics that maintain the individual’s participation amongst the group.” And, whether this complex jargon resonates or not, these truly are some magnificent works of art.
Some of the arresting gazes she captures in this new series of paintings stray between haunted and aloof, with the odd forced smile creeping in along the way.
Throughout the work presented in the show, Wise’s subjects share a stage with a medley of recognizable goods, whether nods to millennial culture or some telltale sign of modernity. In this series, subjects are framed alongside cleaning and household products – from disinfectant to cling film.
One of the most unique (or should that be odd?) parts of the exhibition is the appearance of pieces of Kleenex tissue coming out of benches in the gallery. We’re told it’s placed there to “speak to a violence festering below the surface should one not adhere to implied regulation.” Which sounds as strange and intimidating as the Kleenex looks in a gallery environment.
Most at ease when breaking rules and taking risks, it may be Chloe Wise’s first London show, but it’s going to be far from the last time you hear of this bold, bright emerging artist.
The Chloe Wise Exhibition Not That We Don’t is on now at the Almine Rech London until May 18th, 2019.
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