Shana Nys DambrotLaura Krifka takes on the classical stance of European academic painting in her first solo show with Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, smashing ivory tower patrician preciousness with a cheeky wit, advanced technique, and lush elements of both social realism and rococo modernism. The new work represents an evolution from her Flemish Renaissance style toward more modern visual cues and a crisper hand that is less folk-inflected and while not quite surreal, are certainly uncanny.
Laura Krifka, Woman Drying Herself, 2019, Oil on canvas, 65 x 40 in (Courtesy of Luis De Jesus)
The paintings in The Game of Patience depict men and women, alone and together, naked and clothed in domestic vignettes that are both mundane and hyper-stylized. From wallpaper to design accents, the crush of shag carpet and the Op Art fantasies of elaborately patterned wall treatments to the eerie warmth cast by ordinary light sources, every detail in these arresting new paintings has a place in the motif. The mundane nature of the action in the compositions — drying off after a shower, changing a bulb in the kitchen — only serves to highlight the artist’s masterful command of her paradigmatic medium.
Luis De Jesus Gallery, 2685 La Cienega Blvd., Culver City; opening reception: Sat., Sept. 7, 6-8 p.m.; through Oct. 19; (310) 838-6000, luisdejesus.com.
Laura Krifka, Lions, 2019, Oil on panel, 60 x 40 in (Courtesy of Luis De Jesus)
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