Genieve Figgis's third solo exhibition at Harper's opens July 5 and showcases new works that subvert eighteenth-century art traditions focused on luxury. The artist employs rich acrylics and a Rococo-inspired style, yet infuses chilling elements into her portraits. Notable works include Imaginary Family, portraying distorted figures in extravagant attire against a faded setting, and Room with a Dog, which emphasizes grand but empty interiors. Figgis's art merges elegance with haunting imagery, prompting reactions to the excesses of aristocratic life.
Imaginary Family is a parlor tableau warped into phantasmagoric excess. Here, a procession of distorted figures stands against a Georgian façade composed of sanguine pinks and murky mauves, like the fading wallpaper in a long-abandoned manor.
Gathered around a pram and dressed in extravagant finery-ruffled sleeves, bonnets, parasols, and tailored coats-the subjects appear as costumed nobles caught in a shadowy masquerade.
In other works, like Room with a Dog and In Bed, Figgis pays close attention to interior space, depicting the ostentatious living quarters of yesteryear's aristocracy.
Though devoid of the human figure, one can imagine an heiress reclining on the striped chaise lounge, leaning into the resplendent grandeur of the leisure class.
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